I lost almost everything in a house fire - but ended up happier
For Nicky Maidment, seeing footage of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires has brought back haunting memories of the day a blaze ripped through her own home. Here, Nicky, 65, a master practitioner in neurolinguistic programming (NLP), shares the horror of what happened that fateful day and why her heart goes out to the people of LA.
My first thought when I first saw TV footage of the fires in Los Angeles was that it looked like a warzone. Seeing the piles of rubble that were once people's homes, it's impossible to imagine that just days ago these same streets were bustling with the comings and goings of daily life.
My heart goes out to them because I also lost my home to fire almost five years ago. Most people get very attached to their houses and belongings so when you don’t have much left beyond the clothes you’re standing in, it’s terrifying and bewildering.
My son, Ross, 39, discovered the blaze in my two-bed, first-floor Bristol flat on 4 February 2020. He lived in Florence at the time, but was visiting me for a few weeks while in the UK with work. Though I own a couple of different properties, this was home. I had lived there for a decade since selling the five-bed family home where I’d raised my children.
When you don’t have a thing left except the clothes you’re standing in, it’s terrifying and bewildering.
The fire
The day of the fire was very ordinary. That’s what’s so shocking. One minute life’s ticking along and the next disaster strikes.
I was in my bedroom having a long phone chat with an old friend. My grandson Jack, 19, who was staying with me to be close to work in Bristol, was in the shower, and Ross was sitting on the sofa nursing a toothache.
One minute life’s ticking along and the next disaster strikes.
He heard a noise coming from the large cupboard housing the boiler at the back of the open-plan living area, opened the door to investigate and was met by flames. Immediately he grabbed a fire extinguisher but the fire continued to rage as it had been caused by an electrical fault.
'Mum! Jack! We’ve got to get out, the flat’s on fire!’ Ross yelled. In total shock, we raced to the safety of the street, Jack wrapped in a bath towel, and me with my slippers on and a coat I’d grabbed.
Ross raised the alarm with the people in the other flats while I called 999. We stood together outside watching in disbelief as the huge sash windows to my flat - which occupied the entire first floor of a beautiful, Georgian property – turned black.
Within 15 minutes three fire engines arrived and the road was cordoned off. Fire officers told us it would have taken approximately 12 minutes from when Ross discovered the blaze for it to completely destroy the flat and that if we hadn’t got out when we did, we may have died from the effects of smoke inhalation or worse.
All I could think was, what if Ross hadn’t come home from work at 3pm with toothache? What if the fire had started when we were asleep? I sought the help of a couple of therapist friends to flip those catastrophic thoughts into gratitude: thank goodness the three of us had survived.
My other three children lived fairly locally and rushed straight to the scene. We stayed with my eldest daughter, Leyla, for several weeks.
I sought the help of a couple of therapist friends to flip catastrophic thoughts into gratitude.
Facing the destruction
A couple of days after the fire, I finally felt able to return to the flat with her, terrified that treasured family photographs and other sentimental items dating back to the 1700s would have been destroyed. They were stored in boxes under my bed along with a beautiful jewellery box that had belonged to my great-grandmother and which my mother had passed on to me. There were also a few small tools that had belonged to my draughtsman father. He and Mum had died a few years earlier so these items were incredibly precious to me.
My fears were compounded when Leyla and I walked into the living area. The acrid smell of smoke was overwhelming, everything was black and the ceiling had collapsed due to the heat. Amongst the rubble on the floor were the remains of a large bookcase that had contained all the books I’d ever owned, including stories by Enid Blyton from when I was a little girl. None of them had survived the flames and smoke.
I remember thinking, 'please don’t let the photos of my children, my parents and generations before them be damaged'. The relief was huge when I looked under the remains of my bed to find that, remarkably, they were the only unscathed items in the flat.
Everything else was ruined. Clothes, furniture, ornaments, bedding. But ultimately those things can be replaced.
Rebuilding
Call it fate, but one of the flats I own had become vacant the day before the fire, so I redecorated it while staying at my daughter's. It took nine months for the insurance company to pay out for everything I’d lost in the fire, meaning all I could afford to kit it out was a second-hand mattress, cheap bedding and crockery. Someone gave me a TV and I found a free sofa on Facebook marketplace. I moved in the day before the lockdown in March 2020.
The fire made me realise all that matters is our relationships with family and friends.
The fire made me realise all that matters is our relationships with family and friends and that it was time for me to be brave and fulfil my dream of becoming a digital nomad. As a master practitioner in neuro linguistic programming (NLP) I can work from anywhere in the world, with clients coming to me for help overcoming everything from deep traumas, phobias and PTSD to unwanted habits and panic attacks.
In May 2022, I went to live in Malta for three months. After that, I travelled to Bali, Indonesia and Thailand, where the people are so happy despite only having the basics to eat, sleep, wash and cook. Meanwhile in Australia I loved the outdoor life and the focus on healthy living. I return to the UK every summer and Christmas to see family and friends. I’m about to leave again for New Zealand.
Although I’ve had a happy outcome, experiencing a house fire is life-changing. It’s why I tell everyone I know to ensure they have a smoke alarm and that their boiler is serviced regularly.
Read more about the LA wildfires:
LA fires live updates (ABC News)
LA wildfires pictures show thousands of firefighters battling ‘apocalyptic’ blaze (Yahoo News UK, 6-min read)
LA fires map shows scale of devastating infernos near Hollywood (Yahoo News UK, 7-min read)
