09-05-2025
My house burnt down — then the council taxed me because it was empty
Patricia Cash-Deakin was on a date when she got a frantic call from her daughter to tell her that their house was on fire in July 2022. It was an excruciating five-minute drive home expecting the worst.
She arrived to neighbours crowded around her nine-bedroom home in Rhyl, north Wales, as the fire service rescued her four-year-old and 20-month-old grandchildren from the top-floor window.
Her five children and four grandchildren escaped the property, but their two dogs, Harry and Bella, died in the blaze. 'It was so horrible seeing all of that, and the dogs were like family members,' said Cash-Deakin, 53.
She had bought her property in 2009 with her husband, who she is now separated from. The fire — started by a faulty
