Woman's warning after she set herself and house on fire with tea light and air freshener
A woman from Torpoint has been badly burnt in a freak blaze which wrecked her home andkilled her cat.
Jo Blatchford, 45, set herself alight when carrying a tea light into a freshly-sprayed cloud of air freshener.
She escaped the fire with daughter Grace and their two dogs, but family cat Mitzy did not make it out.
Jo suffered burns to her hand, ear and neck and she spent four days in intensive care at Derriford Hospital after the incident last month.
Jo was released on Christmas Day after two skin graft operations.
She has warned others of the dangers of taking candles near aerosol spray.
She said: “My hair caught light and I was wearing hair extensions and then the left side of my jumper caught fire. I dropped on the floor and managed to put it out but the fire spread so quickly.
“There was a printer and a lot of paper in the area, as well as Grace’s school books.
“One of my children asked me what it felt like and I cannot say. I cannot tell you whether it was painful or whether it felt like burning but I guess it must have been painful because I was screaming."
Grace, aged 15, came downstairs and helped her mother and the two dogs out of the house before calling the fire brigade.
She describes the event as "the scariest experience of my whole life".
A GoFundMe appeal was launched within hours and has raised £8,000 for the family.
Jo added: “I have just been overwhelmed by the support of the community. People have been donating money and they do not even know us.”
The family intends to give most of the money to a local charity.
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