Family ‘lost everything’ after their electric car catches fire and sets fire to house as three children sleep in their beds

A family of five say they have ‘lost everything’ after their electric car caught fire and destroyed their home in a devastating blaze.

Julie Hensby, 44, has spoken of the chaos as she pulled her three sleeping children from their beds after a fire spread from their electric car to their home.

Mrs Hensby and her husband David, 48, their son Jay, 15, and twin daughters Summer and Aimee, nine, were all asleep when the fire broke out.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service was called at 11.14pm on Monday to reports that a car was on fire and threatening a property at Ruddlemoor, near St Austell.

The family says they may not have been aware of the fire as it spread from the charging point outside to the front door, had it not been for some strangers driving by their property and stopping to clever.

“If it wasn’t for them then this could have been a whole different story,” the mother-of-three told CornwallLive.

“Neighbors all had to leave their homes after the van caught fire on the electrical wires and there were explosions that went off as the fire spread,” she said.

“It was engulfed in flames within ten minutes of our escape.”

Ms Hensby said the family are still very shaken and, left with only the clothes on their backs, face months in emergency accommodation until their home can be sorted. “I got my daughters out and then had to run back to tell my disabled son about the fire.

“My son was sick with a brain tumor when he was young and then kept having strokes because of the treatment,” she said.

“He’s been struggling and in and out of hospital his whole life and he’s deaf because of his treatment so he couldn’t hear me screaming but I went over and woke him up and we got out.”

“The people who stopped by and the neighbors were all amazing and everyone came together checking on each other and looking out for each other. I am so shocked by how much we have cared for each other.’

Neighbors were all forced to leave their homes as well after the van caught fire at the electrical wires and there were explosions that went off as the fire spread.’

Mrs Hensby said the house had been destroyed by fire and smoke damage and they had tried to salvage their belongings as they had no insurance.

She said: “We’ve lost everything and are now in emergency accommodation until the house can be fixed. This could take months.’

“We only have the clothes we were wearing, but we lost everything at home. We are devastated and don’t even know where to start. I think we are still in shock and very shocked and jumping at every noise. This should not have happened’.

The fire service has launched a level one investigation saying a vehicle was destroyed and the inferno had affected both floors and the roof space of a house.

Ms Hensby believes the fire was a result of her car being an electric vehicle and says she has since lost faith in their safety.

She added: “It’s so dangerous and they put the electric charging point in the front door so when it caught fire it blocked our escape route.

“We thought everything was safe, but when it was pointed out to us, we realized how lucky we are to be alive now.

“I will never trust an electric van again.

“The fire service said we were lucky the battery didn’t catch fire or it would have been burning for hours and it would have been very dangerous.

Our friend set up a GoFundMe page just to help us, since we don’t even have shoes, coats or toothbrushes. If we had gone to bed, we might never have escaped.’

She continued: “We wanted to thank the people who pulled over and alerted us to the fire. It was Kelly, Jenny and Jamie.

“If it wasn’t for them, then this could have been a completely different story.

“They called the fire brigade and knocked us out and got us all out.

“The van was on fire and they saw it. She was engulfed in flames within ten minutes of our escape.’