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An elderly man who has lost his home after a fire gutted two terraced houses in County Antrim has said the blaze has destroyed everything his family owned.<\/b><\/p>\n
Davy Haighton had lived in his house at Knockleigh Walk in Greenisland, Carrickfergus for the past 56 years.<\/p>\n
The retired great-grandfather told BBC News NI that “everything is gone – clothes, money, documents, all our memories”.<\/p>\n
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) has examined the scene and said the “most probable cause is thought to be accidental ignition due to embers from a nearby bonfire”.<\/p>\n
The Haighton family home was one of two houses gutted by the fire, which also damaged two other neighbouring properties in the terrace. <\/p>\n
Mr Haighton explained that his wife was already asleep when he noticed a gate at the back of their house was ablaze. <\/p>\n
“I realised this was serious, so I got up [the stairs] and straight away woke my wife up and told her to get out because this house was about to burn,” he said. <\/p>\n
Mr Haighton said that both he and his wife have “health problems because of our age” and wife uses a stair-lift chair.<\/p>\n
But he explained firefighters instructed her not to use the stair-lift during the evacuation for safety reasons, so she had to come down the steps on foot. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n