A major fire which killed one person at a magic shop and flat in Lincoln prompted a wave of kind donations, with over £1,600 raised in a matter of hours to support the family affected.
As previously reported, residents said a loud bang could be heard before flames engulfed the former Co-op building on De Wint Avenue on Monday, December 21.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 4.30pm, and the fire was eventually put out at around 9pm with the efforts of eight appliances and 50 firefighters.
In the hours after news broke that one person had sadly been killed in the blaze, a friend of the family had created a fundraising page titled ‘Taylor Xmas Appeal’ to help them in their time of need.
Creator of the fundraising page Bekki Henderson said in her appeal: “On Monday December 21 this year, tragedy struck a local Lincoln family/business and dear friends of ours.
“A fire resulting in the loss of their home, business and sadly life, all just four days before Christmas.
“As friends and Lincoln residents we would like to help as much as possible in their time of need.
“We have created this fund to try raise as much as possible to help replace items such as clothes, shoes and anything else to help make this tragic time that little bit easier.
“So please give what you can and if you would like to help in any other way please get in touch.”
Anyone wishing to donate to the cause can find out more information on the page here.
Police have at the time of writing made no formal identification of the person killed in last night’s fire.
De Wint Avenue and Shannon Avenue remain closed as investigations into the cause of the fire continue.
It’s expected they will be closed for the majority of the morning.
The overnight updates were as follows: