Pennar community shows true Christmas spirit after house fire

However, Christmas spirit was well and truly shown in the community after the family were uprooted from their home.

On December 23, a fire broke out at a house on Cheriton Road, Pennar on the first floor of the property, leaving everything  including the Christmas presents for the five children  damaged or ruined.

The family were thankfully not in the property at the time, but a passing postal worker noticed a smell and called the fire brigade.

Michelle Roberts a friend of Zoe, the mum, found out about the fire and began putting together a list of what would be needed by the family to ensure that Christmas went ahead.

With the help of another friend Jodie Brown, they began to put out appeals for items and were inundated with items including Christmas presents for the children – aged between two and 14 – as well as a range of everyday items that they may need.

Around 20 people helped to wrap all the presents. (Image: Cllr Michele Wiggins/Michelle Roberts)

Thankfully the family were able to get somewhere to stay pretty quickly although they were also inundated with offers. “One lady was going away and said they could stay in her home,” said Mrs Roberts.

Cllr Michele Wiggins also helped, arriving at Pennar Hall to help with the wrapping of presents – which were dropped off at the Alma pub – after visiting Zoe to find out what she needed and arranging with the council what needs to be done to get the house sorted out.

Mrs Roberts said: “The Christmas spirit came out two days before Christmas. It was the true meaning of Christmas."

Everyone who could help - including Cllr Simon Briskham, Cllr Tony Wilcox and Helen and Elouise Jones - helped, whether it was neighbours taking in clothes to wash, friends salvaging what they could, people dropping off Christmas presents for the children, donating items to help with the basics, and donating to a JustGiving page which currently has £4,000. Around 20 people helped to wrap all the presents at the hall. All that was needed was found within minutes by the community of Pennar. Cllr Wiggins said: “We found out that there was no Christmas wrapping paper in Pembroke Dock so someone went out to Haverfordwest to find us some.”

The hall became a real-life Santa's workshop (Image: Cllr Michele Wiggins/Michelle Roberts)

On Christmas Eve, the presents were all dropped off to the property the family were staying at – providing more real-life Christmas magic. Both said that they were delighted to hear that the children were able to enjoy Christmas. Mrs Roberts said: “The little boy came down on the morning and said he was on the good list after all because he thought he was on the naughty list because of the fire.”

Mrs Roberts said: “There was a whole community spirit and so many people took part and we want to thank them all.

“She [Zoe] is very overwhelmed. She’s the one who always helps others and is not used to taking help herself.”

Zoe said: “I want to say how grateful I am to every single person that was involved and stress how happy my children were on Christmas morning because of them.”

A spokesperson for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “At 11.34am on Saturday, December 23rd, the Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock crews were called to an incident on Cheriton Road, Pennar.

“Crews responded to a fire within a two-storey domestic property measuring approximately 7m x 7m.  The fire was located on the property’s first floor, crews utilised four breathing apparatus sets, two hose reel jets, two thermal imaging cameras, one short-extension ladder and one positive pressure ventilation fan to extinguish the fire.  Adjoining properties were inspected but no heat or fire damage had been caused.

“Crews left the scene at 12.37pm.”

The JustGiving page can be found here.