Pet birds killed as sheds burn down
Several pet birds were killed when an out-of-control rubbish fire destroyed a garden shed in Donnington, Telford.
The two sheds in Jubilee Avenue were completely destroyed by fire, killing a number of birds that were housed in one of the sheds.
Plumes of black smoke billowed up, with neighbours saying the flames from the blaze were rising higher than the rooftops.
The fire started after resident John Allen had been burning rubbish. He doused it and went indoors, but it reignited.
His granddaughter, 20-year-old Letitia Allen, raised the alarm from her mother's house, which is two doors down the street.
She said: "There was all this black smoke and as we looked, there were flames all along the back of his shed."
Miss Allen said her grandfather was most upset because his pet birds, including canaries and goldfinches, were kept in the shed.
Her mother Belinda Guy, 38, was outdoors with niece Danielle Owen and some of their children when the blaze began just before 5pm yesterday.
Her home was struck by a gas canister which flew out of the burning shed.
She said: "It was scary. I saw all this black smoke coming out and it progressed so much that I grabbed the children and took them to the front garden."
