A DEVASTATED family have been living out of bags in a hotel after narrowly escaping an inferno which destroyed their home.
Opia Hamadi and her three children fled their home in Eastern Avenue, Southend, as they spotted smoke “pouring from the oven”...just seconds before it burst into flames.
The family have been living out of bags and relying on clothing donated from family and friends since the devastating blaze on June 30.
The mum, and her children Hendrix, Ostara-Lilly and Opal-Elowen, have said they are “thankful to be alive” but have lost all of their possessions and are fearful for the future.
A fundraiser has been launched to help the family get back on their feet, which Opia hopes will offer her and her children security once again.
She said: “It was 9.30pm in the evening, my daughter asked me to go down to the kitchen before bedtime to get her a glass of water.
“We are so lucky, all I saw was smoke coming from the oven, it was glowing and so thick, I thought that ‘I don’t have minutes to get out of here, I have seconds’ and screamed for my kids.
“This was life or death, not even two seconds after I got out the door, there was fire pouring out of where we were stood.
“The only thing keeping me going is that we haven’t lost our lives, we have lost a hell of a lot but we are still here.”
Opia claims her smoke alarms failed to go off during the blaze, with “luck” being the only thing that helped them escape.
She added: “We lost everything.
“The pictures of the kids, baby photos, pregnancy scanning pictures, all up in smoke.
“I will never see them again which is just heart-breaking, it was horrendous to see the home after the fire the first time.
“I broke down in front of the surveyors because when you leave it, you can almost remove your mind but being stood there again and seeing all the hard work our family had done gone was devastating.
“My two-year old begs me to go home and I can’t explain we cannot, we are living out of bags now in a tiny room.”
You can donate to Opia’s fundraiser at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/house-totally-destroyed-as-family-escape-deadly-house-fire
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