Weston-Super-Mare postman devastated by flat fire

Paul Simmons was asleep when the fire broke out

A postman says he "lost everything" when a fire tore through his home "like an inferno".

The blaze broke out in the kitchen of his top floor flat on Drove Road in Weston-Super-Mare, on Wednesday.

Paul Simmons said he was asleep after a shift when the flames took hold but was alerted by his smoke alarm.

He does not know how it started but Avon Fire and Rescue Service said the cause was thought to have been accidental.

Mr Simmons said he woke up to find his flat filled with smoke

The 49-year-old said: "The alarm was going off which woke me up, thankfully, and the room was just full of smoke.

"It was like an inferno. My heart was going ten to the dozen."

Mr Simmons grabbed his phone, wallet and keys before running downstairs to alert those in the flats below.

"It was terrifying. You just can't imagine what it is like," he said.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said the cause is thought to be accidental

The fire service and ambulance arrived at the scene within five to ten minutes, Mr Simmons said, but the fire had left him with nothing.

"I'm absolutely devastated, I've lost everything, my whole life was in that flat," he said.

"It's not the material goods that I'm upset about, but my parents have passed on, and stuff that I had from them, their gifts, that's all gone.

"It's stuff that is completely irreplaceable, memories, and that's the hard part for me."

The blaze destroyed everything, the postman said

Mr Simmons, who has worked as a postman in Weston-super-Mare for eight years, is now staying with his partner and his brother has set up a fundraising page that has raised more than £1,000.

"Everybody has been awesome," Mr Simmons said.

"Especially the other posties from the Weston office; they have been brilliant and helped me out immensely, bringing me over clothes and donating to the fundraiser, to tide me over until the insurance gets sorted."