A man was left heartbroken after arsonists set fire to his narrowboat home. The boat was found on fire at the River Colne on Monday, September 19 and the owner now faces large costs to get back on his feet.
It was Gary Rothwell's dream to travel the canals on his narrowboat home however at one point had to sleep on a piece of carboard on the path when he was unable to contact his family when his belongings went up in flames.
Slaithwaite and Meltham crews from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) were called to the incident near, Old Lane, West Slaithwaite. Two portable pumps were used to put the blaze out which were carried down to the canal by hand and took water from the canal to douse the flames. Firefighters were at the scene for a whole two hours to secure the whole area, Yorkshire Live reports.
Laura Scholes, Gary's daughter, set up a Crowdfunder to try and help cover the costs of refurbishing and refloating the boat. It is hope some of the money will go towards replacing some of his belongings too and she wants nothing more than to see her dad get back back in to his boat and continue to fulfil his dreams.
After "losing everything" Laura said her dad, from Huddersfield, had also suffered an injury and has been left physically and mentally unwell. She said: "My dad's boat was targeted by youths a few weeks ago. They stole his tools, his belongings and then torched the boat.
"During the upset my dad fell over and has fractured two vertebrae in his back and damaged his jaw. He is barely walking and had to sleep on a piece of cardboard at the side of the canal at one point as had no means of contacting me.
"It really has been soul destroying for my dad as this has been a lifelong dream of his. He had spent 10 years if not more, saving to buy a canal barge to live on and travel the canals. Unfortunately this has now been destroyed by some mindless youths, what has happened to be kind?
"My dad's mental and physical health is not good at all, so I have setup a Crowdfunder page to try and keep him positive and reinstate some sort of faith in humanity.
She added: "I must admit I was struggling to cope and understand as it could’ve been so much worse as my Dad could have been in the boat when it happened along with his two dogs. I managed to buy a caravan myself for him to stay in and hopefully once he has recovered he can try to rebuild the boat.
"However our main problem at the moment is that the fire service have sunk the boat after putting the fire out and are now suggesting we pay £500 PER HOUR for them to come back and pump the boat out. My mind is blown by this.
"My dad is homeless because they sank the boat with water, even after he asked them not to and just to use foam, and they suggest this as a solution. The police are not interested even though there are leads and eye witnesses that saw the youths on the boat.
"Now we face the canal boat being towed away by the canal and river trust if isn’t refloated soon and my dad will be hit by a hefty fine. Not the stress he needs or deserves."
Kirklees District Commander, Dale Gardiner said: "The fire and incident was dealt with safely and successfully by our crews. There was a conversation at the time of the incident in response to a request made by the individual regarding insurance and if pumping out was something that we could do.
"The officer in charge stated that we couldn't pump out for a number of reasons - this being it wasn't safe to do so at the time of the incident and that we didn't have anywhere to take the contaminated water away. Usually there is a charge for this type of service, however due to the situation and current cost of living crisis we will be in touch with the family to see what assistance we can offer."
The Crowdfunding page reach £1,245 of the £1500 target to assist in refloating and rebuilding boat, as well as help to repurchase some of the supplies and belongings her dad lost in the attack.
You can find Lauren's CrowdFunder page, here.
