When Tia Henderson heard the fire alarm, she thought one of her neighbors had burned their toast again. But that wasn’t the case. Moments later, she stood frozen in panic, watching her entire living room – her entire life – go up in flames around her.
The 21-year-old from Oldham had nothing but the clothes on her back when a fire broke out in her Chadderton flat. The former youth mayor of Oldham said her living room was engulfed in flames “within minutes” after a mishap with a candle.
The fire left Tia’s apartment uninhabitable and destroyed all of her belongings. Her recently adopted cat Treasure tragically died in the incident.
Tia is “desperate” and is now sleeping on friends’ sofas while the community organizes emergency accommodation for her.
And it is not the first time that the young ambassador, who is the first person in Oldham to represent young people leaving care on the city council, has had to leave her home. In 2022, Tia was threatened with homelessness after a severe rat infestation made her previous home uninhabitable.
The fire is said to have started on Monday (August 12) after she lit a candle in her living room. Tia believes her curtains caught fire and the flames then spread to her furniture.
Tia said: “I feel so guilty. It’s something you do every day, lighting a candle. It’s something you see all the time on social media. I just never thought I could be in this position.”
She described returning to her living room after hearing a fire alarm “so quiet” that she thought it was coming from the neighbors.
“When I went back to my living room, I noticed my sofa was on fire. My curtains were on fire,” Tia said. “I completely panicked. I saw it and just froze.”
“I ran to the kitchen to get water. But then I wasn’t sure if it was an electrical fault and not the candle. And I thought, if it’s an electrical fault, I don’t want to pour water on it.
“I panicked and tried to think of what I could do to contain the fire. But three minutes after I entered the room, everything was ablaze.”
The former alternative practitioner was able to save herself, her dog and her cat Talia. However, her second cat Treasure remained trapped in the apartment and unfortunately died.
“I opened the window so my cats could go out. I managed to push one out. I thought I had pushed both of them out, but it turned out one of them was still in the house,” she said.
“I ran outside with just the clothes on my back. I had on a tracksuit, just my socks, no shoes, and then I had the dog with me. The dog didn’t even have a leash. The cat was running around in the street. The dog was running around in the street, and I was on the phone with the fire department, and it just seemed like forever until they got here.”
When firefighters arrived, Tia said, they were “amazing” and came into the apartment “immediately” to rescue her cat. But despite CPR and oxygen for several minutes, it was too late for Tia’s pet.
“I lost my little baby. She was a little rescue. I just feel like I let her down. She must have been so scared in that situation, trapped in there.”
Tia lost not only her beloved pet, but also her home and all her belongings, including her clothes, to smoke and fire damage. The fire broke out just days before she was scheduled to attend several job interviews after recently leaving her job at a homeless shelter.
Tia said: “The whole living room has burned down. Parts of the ceiling have fallen down. Parts of the plasterboard have burned. It’s just horrific. The smoke damage is horrific. Nothing can be saved.”
“This afternoon I managed to go inside and I probably have three dresses that I’m going to wear to my interviews next week. I’m going to wash them and hope the smoke comes out. But the fire department told me not to take anything because the damage is so bad.”
She added: “The clothes I’m wearing now are covered in soot and smoke, and that’s literally all I have.”
Due to the extensive damage, it could be months before Tia can move back into her home. She says the local council and her housing association are looking for accommodation for her, but in the meantime she needs to find somewhere to live for her pets.
But Tia says that despite her ordeal, there is one bright spot: the Oldham community, which has come together to help her. A friend has started a crowdfunding campaign that has already raised £750 to help Tia get back on her feet and buy her food and clothes.
And Tia said: “I have had hundreds of messages from people offering to help me. Some have offered to let me sleep on their sofa with the dog. Some have offered me their sofas, their pots and pans, their clothes, some have offered to cook me meals. It is overwhelming how much help people are offering.
“It’s so nice because there’s been so much tension in the community lately between different people. But when it comes down to it, people really stand up for each other, which I really appreciate. It’s so nice to be part of this community.”
Council leader Arooj Shah, leader of Oldham Council, said she was “devastated” to hear what had happened to Tia. Shah said: “Our teams are working with Tia to help and support her as best we can. Over the years she has been an excellent ambassador for the town and hopefully we can help her put things right.”
Greater Manchester Fire Service warns that candles can be “dangerous” in the home. It recommends that candles should never be left unattended and that they should be kept away from flammable objects.
They added: “If there is a fire in your home – leave, stay outside and call 999 – do not attempt to put out the fire yourself and never return to a burning building.”
