2 days Ago
Jevgenijs Kostrovs, 32, is currently living in a Travelodge hotel with his family after his home, on the Plumleys estate in Pitsea, was destroyed in the blaze. Despite being able to flee the fire with his five-year-old son Andre and his two sisters, mother and stepfather, the flames tore through the home and the family have lost almost all their possessions. Family pet, 15-year-old cat Martha, died after suffering from smoke inhalation and the family are unsure if they will be able to return to their home.
Following the fire, at roughly 7am on Saturday, a fundraiser has been launched to support Jevgenijs and his son. An arson investigation has been launched by Essex Police. Jevgenijs said: “We’re still struggling to understand ourselves.
What happened is I woke up at 7am and looked out the window and everything was in flames. “I woke everyone up and got them out. Moments later, the doors and windows exploded with smoke and fire.
“It was really scary. I was sleeping with my five-year-old son, Andre, at the time. It was terrifying.
“We live in a lovely neighbourhood, we don’t have any trouble with anyone. We don’t understand why someone would do it. It could have been terrible if I hadn’t woken up.
A few minutes have changed everything. “I’m just thanking God everyone is alive. My fifteen-year-old cat, Martha, died in the fire.
We’re devastated, we’re still processing it. It’s really hard. “We hope they find who did this.
This is just so wrong on so many levels. I hope they are brought to justice.” The blaze saw damage caused to an outbuilding and a house, and firefighters worked throughout Saturday morning to extinguish the flames.
Essex Police confirmed the incident was being treated as a “suspected arson” and conducted door-to-door and CCTV enquiries. They have appealed to anyone who may know something to contact them. You can visit essex.
police.uk/digital101 to find out more about their reporting services, or call the police on 101, and cite incident 0280 of 28 December. You can find Yev’s fundraiser, which has so far raised £585 of its £2,600 target, at.
