Moment disabled mum's summer house bursts into flames destroying home business
Shocking footage has emerged of the moment a disabled mum's summer house burst into flames.
Michelle Johnson was relaxing in her back garden on May 25 when the incident occurred, which destroyed the structure that housed her celebratory balloon business.
A video shows the summer house engulfed by 12-feet high flames, which also smashed her patio and bedroom windows and resulted in thick black smoke pouring into her house.
The horrified single mum from Swinton, Manchester called the fire brigade who arrived within 10 minutes and later blamed the inferno on faulty electrics.
To make matters worse, heartbroken Michelle's housing association claim she may be liable for the damage herself as the electrics weren't certified as safe to use.
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Michelle's summer house, which she used for her celebratory balloon business was used to store aerosols and other highly flammable items that contributed to the inferno (Kennedy News and Media)Michelle, 43, believes hot weather caused the garden extension lead to overheat, with the blaze escalating rapidly due to the summer house storing aerosols, dry wood and cake stands.
Along with 15-year old son, Joshua, she has been forced to sleep on the settees of friends and relatives whilst repair work is carried out on her boarded-up house, which is likely to take until September to complete.
The mum-of-three fears she'll soon have to fork out thousands of pounds in damages to Great Places Housing Group after admitting she didn't have any insurance.
Furious Michelle claims she hasn't missed a single rent payment in 10 years, but despite this, has "never been treated so badly in her life".
In response, Great Places said it can 're-charge' customers for the cost of repairs if they are found to be the 'cause' of a fire. The association added that it was awaiting an update from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service before deciding what action to take on 'recouping the cost of the clean-up'.
Recalling her ordeal, Michelle said:" I'd just done up my garden. I'd spent a lot of money doing up the summer house, which I had my balloon business in.
Heartbroken Michelle Johnson saw her garden and summer house decimated by huge blaze (Kennedy News and Media)"I was just out on the decking, filling my diary in. It was my summer home so we used to sit out there and relax. I'd been sat out with my son because it was red hot. He'd just gone out ten minutes ago, thank god.
"I went to go into the house and the whole shed just set on fire. It was a hot day, so the plugs in there got hot and it caused the fire. It set fire inside the shed at first because I have flammable things in there like aerosols, dry wood, cake stands and light-up numbers for my balloon business.
"It went up rapidly, it was all gone within about five minutes. It was an electrical fault. Because it had been that hot, [the extension cable] had just sparked, set fire, and blew.
"It was from the house, it was a lead running from the house to the shed. All that was in the plug socket was my phone and my Alexa, it wasn't overloaded or anything. The plugs got hot and it caused the fire.
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"I've had that extension in that summer house for eight months and it's never set on fire and it's been hot. They [the housing association] are saying it was because I put the lead through there, that's why it started.
"It was that quick. It's surreal. It smashed the windows, broke my patio doors. It was a nightmare really. I haven't even cried because it seems like it hasn't happened, it is so surreal. It seemed to go on for ages. It was horrendous, I've lost everything."
Michelle went on to add that the smoke also ruined her home's furniture walls and carpet making it unsafe and inhabitable for her asthma-suffering son. Nothing in her summer house was salvageable.
She continued: "All the windows went upstairs. They still haven't been replaced. They're just boarded up. I feel like a squatter. There was smoke damage in the house. My couch just stunk of smoke, so I had to bin it.
"I had to rip the carpets up, it was horrible. Everything upstairs and downstairs was just wrecked. It was all wet and full of black smoke. My patio doors aren't safe. My garden's like a swamp, I can't even hang the washing out.
"My son's bike and electric scooter were in the shed too. That's a thousand pounds before anything else. My phone, my Alexa, my iPad was in there, there was all sorts. Nothing was left from the summer house. It took me three years to get where I was, and it's all gone up in flames."
Michelle, who is registered disabled due to her battles with Crohn's disease and fibromyalgia, says sleeping on her mum's settee has worsened her illness further.
She added: "I haven't got any money, I'm ill and have lost my summer house where I had my business. I'm so poorly I've been in bed and at the hospital all weekend, and the stress flares it up.
"The housing association haven't done anything. It's been nearly six weeks and I've still got no windows. I've had no repairs. I have to leave my house unattended with thousands of pounds-worth of belongings in. It's horrible.
"I'm homeless, I've got nowhere to go. I'm going from home to home, I'm going from my mum's to my sister's to my mate's to my boyfriend's. My son's been having to come with me. It isn't acceptable, I'm more concerned about my son, he needs a home. My son's heartbroken, he doesn't want to stay at the house. It's a mess and it's dangerous.
"They're saying I might be liable to be billed for the damage on the property. It was all a pure accident from the heat. I spent thousands on the property, making it all nice, doing it up. I've been there for ten years and never missed my rent.
"I thought they'd put me and my son in a hotel for a bit as I'm ill. I'm paying for a house I'm not living in, I'm still paying all the bills for the gas and electric. It's disgusting, I've never been treated so badly in my life."
Michelle's back garden was decimated by the incident (Kennedy News and Media)Simon Robinson, director of neighbourhoods at Great Places Housing Group, said: "As a responsible landlord working in a highly regulated sector, the safety of our customers and their homes is our highest priority.
"The fire was found to have occurred because of faulty electrical wiring which the customer told us was installed by a relative to power a wooden outhouse building that kept flammable materials and gases in it, without the works being legally inspected and authorised by a qualified certified person.
"We cannot overstate the importance of electrical work being carried out and signed off by a registered professional; failure to do this can have extremely serious consequences. In this case it is extremely fortunate that our customer, or a neighbour, was not seriously injured.
"We attended the property to make it safe and clear significant amounts of burnt debris and to replace fence panels, and the customer left us a five-star review on Trustpilot. Glass was ordered to replace that which had been damaged by the fire. The glass has now been manufactured and is scheduled to be fitted imminently; we will do this at a time convenient for the customer and have been in touch to try and arrange this.
"We are awaiting an update from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service which will help us determine what, if any, action we may take with regards to the tenancy or recouping the cost of the clean-up."
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