Express & Star

Belongings lost as homeless Wolverhampton man's tent burns down

An appeal has been launched to help a homeless man whose tent burnt down in Wolverhampton.

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A screengrab from a video showing the aftermath of the blaze

Twenty people have so far reached out to offer support to 33-year-old Alexandru Lucaciu, offering him a tent, food and other items he lost in the blaze on Wednesday.

Workers from British Steel on Qualcast Road, near the site of Mr Lucaciu's tent, tried to put out the fire with extinguishers before calling the fire service.

Firefighters from Fallings Park attended the scene shortly after 5.45pm and managed to put out the blaze, which they described as 'severe'.

It is not known what caused the fire but nothing could be salvaged, with a tent, food, DVD player, a bike and other items badly burnt.

WATCH: Footage shows aftermath of the blaze

Mr Lucaciu, who has been homeless since 2010, was staying at a friend's house at the time of the fire.

He said: "I had a few things like a DVD player which was burnt and a radio, food, and many things that I cared deeply about.

"I was a bit shocked.

"I've got no idea what to do next. I'm getting some help from some outreach people and people from the church to try to get me back on my feet.

"Some items were somebody else's, so I have to repay them."

Mr Lucaciu's friend Stanley Iredale captured footage of the aftermath of the blaze, which showed the remnants of the tent surrounded by charred belongings.

Mr Iredale said: "You would not believe how much damage there was.

"The fire was that bad the spokes on the wheels of the bike have literally melted.

"Thankfully Alex was here with me at the time.

"He now has no clothes, no food, nowhere to stay, nothing.

"Everything was devastated.

"I was angry at first. Bloody angry. I just felt sick when I saw it in the daylight.

"Emotionally, it's wrecking to know that someone could do something like this to someone who has got nothing anyway."

Mr Iredale has since posted on appeal on Facebook which has been met with a flurry of offers of help.

He added: "There's a lot of outpouring of support to buy him a tent and some other things.

"A good friend of mine is coming to bring him a mobile phone, too."

Anyone who wants to help can visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/outreach4wolverhampton/