Thousands raised for York family left homeless by lightning strike

Thousands of pounds has been raised for the residents of a house in York that was destroyed by fire after being hit by lightning.

Firefighters were called to the property, off Station Road in Haxby, shortly after 8pm on Friday evening.

No-one was injured in the incident, but crews were unable to stop the house being completely gutted.

An online fundraising campaign set up after the incident has now raised more than £13,000.

In a post on the GoFundMe website, organiser Claire Brooks said the house belonged to her ex-husband and his mother.

She said: "The two-bed terraced house in Haxby was torched to the ground by a ferocious and merciless fire that took hold within minutes, causing the roof to collapse and every single room to begutted. 

"Thankfully, my ex-husband was out at the time, and his mum managed to escape. What was quite remarkably fortunate was the fact that our two-year-old son had come to my apartment just hours before, and therefore wasn’t left tucked up in bed. "However, this family has lost everything. All they now have are the clothes on their backs. An inquiry needs to be made to discover whether or not their insurance covers force majeure, and therefore they need help financially. 

"Not only do they need clothes, furniture, and a permanent roof over their heads, but our son’s lost all his clothes and toys of theirs too."

In a later post, she added that donations from "wonderful people" would change the lives of the family.