The family have been left homeless after the blaze was said to have been caused by an exploding lithium battery in a children’s toy
16:28, 03 May 2025Updated 18:39, 03 May 2025
The family’s home after the blaze ripped though the upstairs of the property
A mum-of-four has told how she’s “living a nightmare” that she fears she’s “never going to wake up from” after a blaze ripped through her home – tragically killing her family’s pet rabbit.
Emma and her family have been left homeless after a fire – allegedly caused by an exploding lithium battery in her daughter’s karaoke machine – broke out in their Aldridge home on April 30.
The 35-year-old mum said the children’s toy was being stored underneath her daughter’s bed, who lived in a loft conversion. It hadn’t been used for over a year.
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Emma, a special needs classroom assistant, said she was at work when she received a devastating call telling her that the family’s first home – which they had only moved into 18 months ago – was up in flames.
While Emma, who asked us not to reveal her surname, was incredibly thankful that none of her family were hurt in the blaze, her daughter’s seven-year-old pet rabbit sadly did not make it.
The devastating blaze destroyed the upstairs and roof of what was supposed to be their “forever home”.
Deborah Bromley, Emma’s sister-in-law, has set up a Go FundMe page hoping donations from kind strangers will help the family “rebuild their lives” after they realised that their home insurance had not renewed automatically.
“I feel like I’m living a nightmare that I’m never going to wake up from,” Emma told BirminghamLive.
“This was our first house. We had presumed that our house insurance just carried on, year on year, but that’s not the case – which has left us with nothing.
The family’s home after the blaze ripped though the upstairs of the property
“The fire officer said she knew it had started from a lithium battery. At first she thought it might have been an iPad. But then she later told us it was the karoke machine under my daughter’s bed.
“We hadn’t used it for over a year and it wasn’t plugged in.”
Emma said knowing that the family were not in any way at fault had made their plight “worse”.
“It’s not like we had left the hob on, or something like that. We just had it stored.”
Irreplaceable family pictures of people “no longer here”, Emma’s wedding dress, and photo albums were all destroyed in the fire.
“It’s the things you can’t replace,” said Emma who has moved in with her mum.
On losing their pet rabbit, Emma added: “That was the hardest thing. But I told my daughter that he wasn’t burnt in the fire. It’s true, he was in the bathroom.
“He died from inhaling the smoke. I told her that he’s asleep and has gone to heaven now.”
She said her family have been overwhelmed by the support they have received from the local community which has rallied around them.
“Everyone has been so kind. We’re proud people, so it’s been a shock to be asked what do we need. We’re not used to that.
“We haven’t even been here that long, but the man across the road has been helping us. His wife has been cooking us cakes and things.
“We’re so grateful because the support from everyone is what’s keeping us going at the moment.”
CLICK HERE if you would like to donate and help the family get back on their feet.
Deborah, writing on the GoFundMe page, said: “This devastating accident has left the top half of their house in ashes.
“Their 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom, including everything she ever owned, gone, along with the heart-breaking loss of her family pet.
“After working all their lives to finally buy their first forever home 18 months ago they had the horrific news that their house insurance hadn’t renewed.
“Jon and Emma are now faced with the impossible situation of having to find £60,000 just to repair the roof.
“Whilst they are trying to navigate around this devastating news and keeping their children safe, we are setting up this fundraising page in the hope we can raise as much as we can towards them building back their home in the hope that they don’t end up losing everything.
“Any contribution, no matter how small would be another step to try to rebuild their lives.”