Eastbourne lady left with nothing after camper van fire

Hilary Easton, who lives in her camper van alone, was parked along Prince William Parade when she dropped a bottle of bioethanol fuel for her patio heater, causing the whole vehicle to catch fire very quickly.

Mrs Easton said, “It burst into flames, it took minutes.

“The flames leapt up straight away and I ran out.”

The camper van contained all of Mrs Easton’s possessions, as well as some gas bottles that she was worried would explode.

Luckily, there were no surrounding vehicles, and she was able to tell people to stay back to avoid anyone getting hurt.

“I had the clothes I was stood up in, no food, no shoes. Being without my glasses was the worst thing because I couldn’t see. Everything went up in flames.”

Mrs Easton is set to borrow her son’s camper van for the foreseeable future as she prepares to retire next month.

Dominic Cronic, a friend of Mrs Easton, has set up a crowd funding page to help her start to recover from the fire.

Anyone wishing to donate can find the page at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dominic-cronin-2