17-05-2025
Mum and three children left 'homeless' after 'death trap' new build shower 'catches fire'
A mum has shared how she and her three children have been left homeless after a fire broke out in her new build home.
Eunice Angmortey claims that the blaze was started by a faulty electric shower in the en suite inside her Wolverhampton property.
The 49-year-old claimed she had moaned to St Modwen Homes about the shower twice since moving into the three-bedroom house in 2023.
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She said someone had been out to fix it both times, but on April 26 this year, she opened the door to see thick, black smoke engulfing the room.
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The mum quickly got her children and ran out of the house.
Thankfully, no one was hurt in the blaze. But as the warranty on the shower ran out in December last year, Eunice said she had been left with no help.
Eunice, a chartered surveyor, paid just under £300,000 for the house on Daytona Grove which sits on the Banbury Place estate.
Still affected by the smoke from the fire, Eunice told BlackCountryLive through coughs: "I reported the shower as faulty in 2023 and 2024.
"Someone was sent to look at it, and they said it was good to go.
"But in 2025, it caught fire. The warranty [for the shower] was two years, and it ended in December.
"I reported it as faulty during the warranty period, so it should have been replaced.
"St Modwen Homes sold me something that was not fit for purpose.
"I feel like I'm stuck in the middle.
"They take you're money and then that's it. It becomes a struggle trying to get them to do anything."
Since the fire, Eunice and her three children aged five, six and eight have been sleeping at a hotel.
"The smoke has coloured all the walls upstairs and the electrics were melted, so I don't have light upstairs," she said.
"Because it was electrical, the smoke was very thick and dark.
"You think having a new build would give you peace of mind to know that everything is perfect but it isn't.
"We are not able to sleep in the property because of the smoke debris, which can be risky to health.
"We are kind of homeless at the moment and the only thing we are getting is people playing the blame game.
"The Insurance company says that if the shower unit started the fire, St Modwen Homes would be liable.
"They say it was faulty in the first place."
The mum wants to warn others of the dangers of electric showers following the fire.
She said: "I want to warn other people that this might happen to them. It's a death trap.
"If it happened at night when I was asleep, then I would have died."
A spokesperson for St Modwen Homes said: "We were very sorry to hear about the fire at Ms Angmortey's home at Banbury Place last week.
"Our customer service team have been in regular contact with Ms Angmortey following the incident and we are working with all parties involved as part of their investigations."
A spokesperson for West Midlands Fire Service said: "Shortly before 12.15pm on Saturday 26 April, we responded to a house fire on Daytona Grove, Wolverhampton.
"A fire engine from Fallings Park station responded. A fire engine from Cannock station, part of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service also attended.
"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used a hose reel to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started accidentally.
"The fire was confined to the room of origin.
"Everyone was accounted for and there were no reported injuries.
"The final crew left the scene at 1.50pm."
