A family have been left devastated after 'losing everything' in a house fire where the dad ran in to save the dog but was unable to rescue their pet cats.
Zoya Shumanska was about to fly to Bulgaria to see family when she discovered her house had caught alight, amid an unprecedented heatwave across the UK on Tuesday which saw a new all time high of 40.3C registered in Lincolnshire.
Amid the sweltering heat, major incidents were announced by fire brigades in London, Leicestershire and South Yorkshire as dozens of fires broke out amid the sweltering heat - with flames ripping through houses, schools and churches.
Zoya, 32, had picked up a call from the nanny to her sons who said the blaze had broken out near the family’s house.
Husband Lyuben Velov, 34, drove back to discover a fire in the garden, but police stopped him from entering.
MyLondon reports Zoya said: “Its like a movie. I still can’t believe it’s real.
"We lost absolutely everything - 12 years of life , all our savings, our photos, documents, hard drives, laptops, my car. Everything."
She added: “All we have is we are alive and safe, our dog is safe, the three bags I packed for the kids and the clothes on my husband and his car.
"Nothing is left from the house. My husband doesn't even have documents and IDs as they are all in the house”.
Zoya and Lyuben's pets, their dog Mia and two cats Muti and Michelle were in the house at the time.
Lyuben broke into the house and managed to save the family dog, but their two cats are still unaccounted for.
In a desperate appeal for help find them, Zoya said: "He [Lyuben] managed to get in through the garden and break the back door just to save our dog but was not able to find the cats.
"As all the streets were closed he did manage to get closer to our house but the fire was already on our doorstep.
"The police stopped him after he broke in. That's why he couldn't get the cats."
Zoya and her two children are staying in Bulgaria with family, while her husband is now staying with friends in London.
Black smoke poured into the sky as the fire burned in a residential area where several houses were destroyed as 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters worked to stop the flames.
The blaze involved a wide area of grassland and a range of properties.
A range of semi-detached houses were destroyed plus semi-detached homes nearby which were damaged or destroyed.
An area of parkland of around eight hectares was also burnt and around 25 vehicles were destroyed.
One woman and one man were taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service crews. Around 135 people were evacuated from surrounding properties.
Video from the scene in Dagenham shows smoke rising as visible orange flames flicker above garden fences, firefighters and a fire hose also visible as efforts to put out the blaze continue.
The fire brigade took more than 70 calls to the incident, which was first attended by crews from from Whitechapel, Leytonstone, Millwall, Clapham and surrounding fire stations at 2.15pm.
Borough Commander Paul McClenaghan, who was at the scene, said: "Crews initially attended a significant grass fire which involved multiple seats of fire and also affected a range of buildings and a workshop.
"As firefighters were tackling that blaze, the fire was creating additional hotspots of fire which affected sheds and further nearby properties. A number of properties were evacuated on both sides of the road."
Firefighters are still unaware of the full extent of the damage caused by blazes which affected houses, schools and churches across London, with crews describing scenes as “absolute hell”.
