The niece of a woman who died in a west Belfast house fire has said her family are “living a nightmare that doesn’t feel real” after they found out her home wasn’t insured.
Mother-of-three Debbie Burns died following a blaze at her home in the New Barnsley Park area at around 3.25pm on Monday.
Her funeral will take place on Monday 23 December at Corpus Christi Church in west Belfast.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, her niece Dorothea Burns said the family were living a “nightmare” comparable to a soap opera Christmas episode as she recalled entering her late aunt’s home for the first time since her death to find it completely destroyed.
She has since launched a Go Fund Me page to help with costs involved with the home, however after seeing the scale of the damage has now has revised the costs involved.
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Debbie Burns
“We were just round at the house with Debbie’s eldest son Gavin, to review the damage, I set the target for £5,000, and now that won’t cover anything,” she said.
“We knew the damage was bad, and the house was destroyed, but seeing it for yourself with your own eyes, it needs to be completely rebuilt, the insides are ruined.
“It was weird going in, the whole thing has been so tragic. I’ve been trying to support my cousins who have already been through so much, and we’re trying to approach it in a mature way, but in the same way we’re aware of how tragic it’s all been.
“When we walked in, it’s just black, all black. The ceilings are down, everything is destroyed. Debbie’s children had to go and buy her new clothes to bury her in, because they don’t have anything from her home. We’re praying for a miracle.”
Doretha set up the fundraiser to help with additional costs for her aunt’s three children — Debbieleagh, Gavin and Brandon — who lost their father in 2011 to cancer, to help with the funeral and home repairs at what was their childhood home.
They have been told by investigators the cause of the fire is still unknown.
In addition to the loss of their mother just days before Christmas, and the fire damage, the family have also just found out the home is not insured.
“We were told that today, it’s devastating,” continued Dorothea.
“The fire brigade haven’t detailed anything to us about what caused it. It was all so fast.
“Debbie was minding her grandchildren at the weekend, and on Monday morning she was dead. It doesn’t bear thinking about the fact that the children could have been there as well.
“Debbie is being waked from Debbieleagh’s home at the moment, and they have been through so much as a family already. They lost their daddy when they were teenagers, and they were never the same — you can’t fathom what it’s been like for them.
“It’s a living nightmare, it’s like something you would see on a soap opera Christmas Day episode, it doesn’t feel real. You don’t hear about these things,
“Debbie can’t even have her own wake at her family home, they can’t honour her in a way they would because the house is cinders.
“It was their family home too, their dad was a joiner and he built the majority of things in it, and it holds so many memories of him and now their mummy too.”
Debbie and her three children Gavin, Brandon and Debbieleagh
Dorothea said the tragedy is “heightened” by the festive season, admitting the family aren’t able to process Christmas any more.
“They don’t even have anything for Christmas, nothing — and now they don’t even have a parent to guide them through this. Debbie’s children now only have each other.
“But the community has been so good, people have come to the family directly to make donations and that’s why I set up the page. But now it’s worse that the home isn’t insured, it’s no longer a case of her children going in and tidying up, it’s contractor and builder level of repairs.
“They don’t even know where to start but they’re focusing on burying their mummy and then hopefully Christmas, but they’re exhausted, emotionally and physically drained — but they need help.
“Debbie’s kids have been through so much already, to lose their mummy a week before Christmas, I can’t get my head around it.”
Debbie Burns
When asked to describe her aunt, Dorothea said Debbie was a “family woman who loved and idolised her children and two grandchildren”.
“She’d have never walked past you without saying hello, she was a devoted mother and worker at the Royal Hospital for over 30 years, and anyone who knew her knew about her kind heart.
“Debbie didn’t deserve to die this way, and her children don’t deserve any of this.”