The father of a young family has spoken of his “living nightmare” after being forced out of his home following a fire at a neighbouring property.
Joe Evans, 33, has lived in his terraced house on Derlwyn Street, Phillipstown, near New Tredegar, for nearly ten years with wife Julie and their three young children.
Following the Boxing Day fire, the family are now living in emergency accommodation in Rhymney.
The fire began at around 10.30pm in two uninhabited houses on the end of the terrace.
It spread to the family’s home where the children aged two, four and six were sleeping.
Mr Evans, a professional musician, said: “We grabbed the kids as smoke was filling our upstairs.
“It was scary as you couldn’t smell anything.
“The fire service went up into our loft to try and stop it from spreading even further down the street. They did a great job, but a lot of our stuff is now ruined, including my wife’s wedding dress.”
It took four fire crews almost three-and-half hours to tackle the blaze. Police are investigating the deliberate fire.
The fire was the culmination of problems involving the two derelict houses neighbouring Mr Evans’ home.
Mr Evans said the properties have been empty since 2010 being broken into several times with rubbish dumped there. They have also attracted drug users.
Mr Evans said “I’ve seen needles lying around in the house next door, and with the fly-tipping of food substance and overgrown garden, it attracts rats which get into our garden.
“The council has put plyboard on windows, and they’ve just been ripped straight off. They tried adding steel mesh, but it does little to deter youths.
“It’s just a continual process, and a vicious cycle.”
The sustained threat of danger and worry over their family’s safety has become so severe that Joe and Julie have discussed drastic action.
Mr Evans added: “My hope now is that both properties are demolished. They’re just empty shells. They’re dangerous and are a blot on the street.
“We’re on a 30-year mortgage, and we’ve discussed defaulting on it, leaving and starting again. We would never be able to sell our house with the two next door in such a damaged state.
“It would be tough, circumstances would be more difficult, but it might be worth doing it just to leave this place.
“I’m suffering from anxiety and depression as a result of this ongoing battle.
“It’s been hard, the council aren’t listening, and it’s adding extra pressure onto our lives.”
The family are living in Rhymney for the next two months while the fire damage caused to their home is repaired, and Mr Evans tearfully added: “It’s weird to admit, but I don’t want to go back now. We’ve had a taste of what life without those two properties hanging over us is like.”
Caerphilly County Borough Council was asked to comment.
To add: which involves all of Caerphilly borough residents is the sheer cost that these two dwellings have costed the taxpayer because we believe that the properties expenditure for screening, garden maintainence, pest control, contractors, poll tax arrears demolishing of the garage at 79 have all been fronted by the local authority and not the landlords! This is not to mention the number of police attendances and fire services which after speaking with a fire officer he expressed that the cost for the fire service to attend on just that one night was upwards of £80,000 which could’ve been prevented if the local authority followed protocol and made fire services aware of the risk!! So when your poll tax increases this coming year just remember the above could be a contributing factor aswell as many other deficits recently published!!