A PORTHMADOG mum has been left devastated after her family home was destroyed in an explosion which killed one of her neighbours.
Luckily Cayla Owen and her two daughters, Caitlin, 12 and two-year-old Maddison, were staying with her mother in Chester when a fire broke out in a neighbouring property to hers in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester.
The fire led to a huge explosion, which destroyed her rented home in the early hours of Tuesday, 9 August. The building had to be demolished.
The former Ysgol Eifionydd pupil, who has aunts living in the Porthmadog area, said she wasn’t aware of the incident until later that morning and made her way back to Ashton to see the devastation for herself.
She said: “It was very lucky that I chose to stay an extra night at my mum’s as it wasn’t until I woke up the next day that I found out what had happened.
“I was told there wasn’t a roof on my house and I just went into panic mode.
“When I got there I couldn’t believe the damage and the firefighters told me there was no way I would be going back to live there.
“I’m still shocked by it all. Everything I had is destroyed, I think all I’ve managed to salvage from the wreckage is about seven pictures.
“Everything we owned has just gone.”
Sadly, a 63-year-old man died as a result of his injuries and several people were injured.
A fund-raising page has been set up to help raise funds for Cayla and her daughters.If you wish to help Cayla and her daughters you can donate by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gareth-hunt-2 See this week’s Arfon/Dwyfor edition of the Cambrian News for the full story