‘Everything is gone’

Couple left homeless after blaze

The community in Cavan Town and local authority staff are rallying around to assist a retired couple who lost everything in a house fire last weekend.

Eugene Aleksandrov looks over his shoulder at the blackened shell of the house that was home to him and his wife, Nadia, for almost two decades.

The Garda cordon remains in place, and security fencing now surrounds the property, shuttering off access to the charred structure that was once the centre of the Aleksandrov family’s life - now too dangerous to enter.

For Eugene (73), the devastation is almost impossible to comprehend - particularly since they discovered their home insurance policy had lapsed.

Eugene looks towards his wife, Nadia, before turning back, shaking his head in disbelief. “Everything is gone,” he says quietly.

Eugene is still wearing the same grey T-shirt and shorts he had on when he left the house late last Saturday afternoon, August 8, to go to the shops.

Nadia (70) remained at home, sitting downstairs watching television. She had no idea a fire had taken hold in the attic above until she heard panicked screams.

Outside, neighbours battled desperately to que nch the flames using a garden hose.

By then, there was little anyone could do, with the blaze already tearing through the roof and threatening to spread to the adjoining semi-detached.

Devastating

The Lakeview end-terrace home in Townparks, Cavan Town, had been the backdrop for almost two decades of Aleksandrov family life. Birthdays were celebrated. Christmases.

Parties filled its rooms, and new generations were welcomed into the world there.

Their son, Oleg, bought the newly built house in 2005, with his parents moving in the following year.

For Nadia, who worked at Kyte, and Eugene, who worked with McBreen Environmental, it became their “home”.

Now it is uninhabitable - the upper floors ravaged by fire, while the ground floor is saturated by the huge volumes of water used by crews from Cavan and Belturbet to bring the blaze under control.

Firefighters arrived to find the roof and upper bedrooms fully engulfed, using breathing apparatus to enter the attic as they fought to prevent the fire from taking hold next door.

Cavan Town’s 100ft Bronto hydraulic aerial platform was also deployed, allowing firefighters to attack the growing inferno from above.

Upstairs is where the Eugene and wife Nadia had stored decades of memories. Almost nothing survived. Family photographs. Albums. Documents. Passports. All destroyed.

“The whole history of life, wiped out,” the couple's son Oleg tells the Celt.

He too pauses, staring at the wreckage.

“I can't even begin to explain what it's like looking at it now. It's really heartbreaking.”

Insurance

Even the garden at No 66 Lakeview bears scars.

A rose that once sprawled across the front of the property - a living reminder of the years the family spent there - stands scorched.

As the Aleksandrovs began to confront what comes next, another devastating reality emerged.

There was no insurance cover in place.

“This means there will be no insurance paid out to cover rebuilding the family home,” Oleg confirms. “This is the major difficulty we are now facing.”

Early indications at making the house habitable could run well into six figures.

The priority, for now at least, is to find somewhere safe for his elderly parents to live. To that extent Cavan County Council has stepped in. Emergency accommodation was arranged, and Eugene and Nadia have been temporarily housed in a B&B in Virginia. The family praised in particular the assistance provided by Homeless Prevention and Support Officer, Seán Murphy, and staff within the local authority's Housing Section.

Beyond that though, the future is uncertain and a longer term housing solution will be required.

“It's very early stages,” Oleg admits.

The fire has also displaced the Aleksandrov family's neighbours, whose home also remains uninhabitable due to damage caused by the fire.

The Aleksandrovs say they are deeply sorry that another family has been caught up in the devastation.

Support

Yet amid the charred remains and shattered memories, something else has emerged. The extraordinary wave of kindness shown by neighbours who have rallied around the heartbroken family since will live long in the family's memory.

Messages of sympathy flooded social media, while offers of clothes, accommodation, practical assistance and emotional support have come in abundance.

“I have to give a really big shout-out to everybody here in the community for offering help yesterday, today, every day - getting phone calls, getting offers of this, that and the other, clothes and support,” says Oleg. “It really, really helps.”

Local businesses have also stepped forward.

Cavan Crystal Leisure Centre has offered Eugene three months without membership payments.

For a man who has known manager Gayle Anderson for around 16 years, the gesture provides something precious at a time when so much of his life has been ripped away.

Amid the heartbreak, the Aleksandrovs keeps returning to one thing.

Nobody was hurt. That, they agree, is what matters most.

The house can be rebuilt.

“It'll take a while,” says Oleg. “It can be done, over time. But we are more thankful that no one was injured. You cannot replace a life that is lost.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.