The owners of a nursery could only stand helplessly in the street and watch as their "pride and joy" was destroyed by a fire.
Honey Pot nursery was ravaged by a massive blaze that has caused in excess of £80,000 damage, according to a friend of the family.
Dramatic photos showed the scale of the inferno last night, which sent huge plumes of smoke into the air as firefighters battled the flames.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were called out to the Earp Street premises shortly after 7.45pm and brought the blaze under control by 10pm.
Andrew Murray whose son, Jolan, attends the nursery has started a fundraising page to help the owners of Honey Pot.
Mr Murray who owns two businesses himself - Cakes by Andrew and Porkies Pies - is also a friend of the family and says the community in Garston want to give back.
Police granted more time to to question teen on suspicion of Alex Davies murder
He told the ECHO: "My son attends Honey Pot and as well as that I'm personally friends the owners . It's been there such a long time , it's a bit of a staple of the community.
He added: "I spoke to the owners and management team and they said there was in excess of £80,000 in damages. I just thought if we can help them in any way then we would.
"They went straight to the scene and watched their pride and joy burn down. It's devastating for them personally but their response was to message parents to tell them they would solve something for the kids.
Car 'careers into lamppost' on busy Liverpool street
"At the moment they've said the nursery will be closed but but they're working tirelessly to find alternatives. The children are the most important thing to them."
Mr Murray's two-year-old son has been attending the nursery for just over a year and he said people love sending their children there because of the amazing work the team does.
He said:"My little boy adores it , he's come on leaps and bounds since being there."
New pictures of the nursery show the scale of the destruction with the entire roof having collapsed or been turned to ash.
There are also images showing the burned-out shell of a play area within the nursery.
So far dozens of people have donated to a fundraising page, set up by Mr Murray, to help the family-run business rebuild after the devastating fire.
One fundraiser posted: "Such a tragedy - thankfully Garston is a Community that will rally around and help others at their time of need - in the words of Tesco - ‘every little helps’. "
"I don't know what the kids are going to do" - ECHO readers react to nursery blaze
Another said:"Feel heartbroken by the news of the fire at Honeypots. Hope we can all pull together to get this lovely nursery up and running again"
The fundraising page has already raised more than two-thirds of its original £1,000 target in just three hours.
You can donate to the fundraising page here .
