A family of three made homeless after a blaze destroyed their home of 14 years say they have “lost everything”.

Chelsea Hodges, 34, and her two children are now living in temporary accommodation after their garden shed caught alight and spread to the house.

Thick plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the property in Darnley Road, Strood, following the fire on March 27.

Police later arrested a teenage boy in connection with the incident but he has since been released without charge.

Now, Chelsea’s sister, Tierney Hodges, has started a GoFundMe page to help her relatives get back on their feet after “losing everything”.

Speaking on behalf of the family, the 32-year-old told KentOnline: “On the afternoon of March 27, my 15-year-old-niece was alone at home playing on her PlayStation.

“Her dog kept running inside and jumping on her barking, so my niece decided to go and check outside as she thought maybe someone was in the garden.

“When she went to the back door, she saw the flames and when she went back inside to her bedroom at the back of the house, her bedroom was already on fire.”

The 15-year-old is then said to have collected her two hamster cages from her bedroom, along with her dog and went to a neighbour, where the fire brigade was called.

“My sister returned home from the hospital with my mother and saw that her house was on fire,” Tierney added.

The fire service said the cause of the fire is still unknown due to the extent of the damage.

But Tierney says it is believed to have been caused by a cigarette — although none of the family smoke.

Describing the extent of the damage, she said: “The fire had ripped through her bathroom into the kitchen and her daughter’s bedroom.

“Her front room and the bedroom at the front of the house are very badly water-damaged but not damaged by the fire.

“I’ve made the GoFundMe for her as she lost everything in her home – whether that be from fire damage or water damage – nothing is saveable.”

The 32-year-old support worker says the main damage is to her niece’s bedroom, the downstairs bathroom, the lobby and severe smoke damage in her sister’s bedroom and the kitchen.

“It was my nephew’s birthday the day of the fire so all of his presents were in the home, all of the Easter eggs she had bought for her nieces and nephews and kids were gone, she’s lost about £15,000 worth of goods just in the front room,” she added.

Tierney says her niece went to hospital for smoke inhalation and was in “a lot of shock” but was later discharged.

Following the fire, the family stayed with a relative for a few days before being moved to a hotel room for two weeks while accommodation was sourced for them.

Additionally, Tierney says her sister’s housing association, mhs homes, has told her that problems with asbestos, re-wiring the house and redoing the bedroom and bathroom will “take up to a year to complete”.

The family have now been told they will be moved permanently to a new home but Tierney says the family did not have any contents insurance following a marriage breakdown, so she isn’t able to claim anything for her destroyed possessions.

Tierney says mhs homes has been “really supportive” and is doing everything it can to find her family somewhere in the area so the children can stay at their school.

Chelsea now needs a stable home as she is planning on having an operation to help her mother with her health.

Tierney added: “The GoFundMe is also to help her get the children and herself the main items needed for when they are moved to a new home.

“The internet and the community where we live have been absolutely brilliant.

“We’ve had people donating to us when we take our kids to school, bags and bags of clothes, I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of messages.”

The family now need household appliances like a washing machine, tumble dryer and other things, to start afresh as all electrical items were blown during the blaze.

Her sister added: “It’s been traumatic but we are all trying to muck-in and help them any way we can because my sister’s on her own with two kids.”