The Paola community is rallying around a young family after a terrifying fire destroyed most of their belongings, left them temporarily homeless and killed their pet just weeks before Christmas.

“Last year my family and I donated toys under the tree at Castille in Valletta. This year, strangers are donating toys to my children because they lost all their toys in the fire,” mother-of-two Christine Gatt told Times of Malta as she described her family's ordeal.  

She was folding clothes on Tuesday afternoon when her five-year-old son Zaylen burst into the room, holding his two-year-old brother Zyon’s hand to tell her there was a fire in their bedroom.

After attempting to put out the blaze with water, she took the children into a room with a balcony, from where the family were rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital for shock and smoke inhalation.

Her son later told her there was a battery-operated car on the bed and he believes it started the fire.

The 45-year-old recalled how the children were playing in their bedroom at around 3.30pm when her son raised the alarm.

“I went running to their room and saw fire flaming out of the mattress where the youngest sleeps,” she said.

Christine Gatt in her Paola home that caught fire last week. Photo: Karl Andrew Micallef

“I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a pot that was drip-drying. I filled it with water from the sink and went running back and threw it. The fire sort of went out but then rekindled. I realised the pot was not enough. I ran to the internal yard where there was a full bucket and I threw it on the fire. Smoke continued to billow.”

When she realised she could not control it, she grabbed the children and ran to her bedroom.

“By then the smoke had spread. Suddenly the lights went out. I was walking in pitch dark. It was like I was blindfolded by the smoke,” she said.

“I was pushing the children in front of me. I pushed them into my bedroom and shut the door. We went onto the balcony and closed the door between the room and the balcony. I opened the windows and phoned the rescue team.”

Thankfully, a police car happened to be driving by and officers stopped to help.

The fire started in the bedroom of two boys aged five and two on Tuesday. Photo: Family handout

She then phoned her husband, Patrick, who was at work. “I saw missed calls from my wife. I called her. She started shouting: ‘Come, come, the house is on fire,’” he said.

Firefighters and police arrived “in the blink of an eye”, Christine said, rescuing first the children, then her, from the balcony of their first-floor apartment.

Thankful that her family escaped alive, Christine says she is sorry she was unable to save their pet, a Senegal parrot named Zazu.

Standing in their charred home, Christine and Patrick are now picking up the pieces.

The fire ravaged the whole house. Photo: Family Handout

The children’s bedroom was destroyed, and everything else – from the floors to the ceiling and the insides of closed cupboards – is covered in soot.

But, despite the heartbreak of the loss, the couple, who have another older son, are filled with gratitude for all the help that has been pouring in.

A friend is allowing them to stay in a rental apartment in Birkirkara for free; the children’s school provided new uniforms for the boys; and the Paola council is collecting items for them.

Some sentimental items that escaped the flames. Photo: Karl Andrew Micallef

Others have offered bedroom furniture for the boys as well as clothes, toys, groceries, detergents and a new Christmas tree and decorations for their temporary home.

“My eldest loves fire trucks and police cars. He had Paw Patrol toys, which he loved. They got destroyed. They have already been replaced. He ended up seeing fire trucks for real because of this accident,” she said.

They now need help cleaning the charred walls. Meanwhile the couple are busy cleaning and saving what they can. “I am washing everything. I can’t keep up with drying the clothes. Having a tumble dryer, even if borrowed, would help,” she said.

“There has been a chain of help and support,” Christine said, adding: “at the moment every little drop counts for us.”

Anyone who wishes to help can call Christine on 7978 1604.