Earlston rallies round its own as family loses everything in fire

Earlston residents have helped to raise more than £5,000 overnight for a disaster-stricken family after they lost their home and belongings during a fire yesterday, December 22.
Earlston High Street.Earlston High Street.
Earlston High Street.

Though nobody was hurt in the blaze, in the town’s High Street, the Murray family lost their home and belongings in the fire, reported at around 2pm.

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Before fire crews had even left the scene that evening, an online fundraising page had been set up by family friend Natasha Shewan, and local cafe and bookshop the Tea Cosy had started accepting donations of household goods.

Natasha wrote on her fundraising page: “The family are well known and very well thought of in the community.

“There is nothing left of the inside of the house, just a shell.

“The family only possess what they have on their backs.

“Please, as a community, can we help the Murray family and show some Christmas spirit.”

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Her target of £500 was reached within a couple of hours of the page going online, and this morning’s total sits at just over £5,383 from more than 233 donations.

Fire crews from Galashiels, Lauder and Selkirk attended, and the town’s High Street was closed to traffic for over eight hours while they tackled the blaze.

A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We got the call to attend at 2.11pm on Sunday, December 22. It was in High Street in Earlston.

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“We had four pumps in attendance, and they were there until 10.31pm.

They had four breathing apparatus and two hose-reel jets, and they extinguished the fire using those.

“We don’t believe anyone was injured.”