Sheffield mum’s house goes up in flames after son, 5, plugged in Nintendo Switch Christmas gift

Holly France from Stocksbridge was at home in the front room with her eldest son Rowan, 5, on Sunday, February 16 when the youngster plugged his Nintendo Switch console in at the wall. As he flicked the switch, sparks flew from the socket, causing a fire to start and burn his hand.

“He was screaming. I grabbed him and dragged him out and shut all the doors,” Holly, 22, told The Star.

“Within a couple of minutes the whole living room went black – the blinds were melting. Everything was on fire and everything downstairs is ruined.”

Despite Holly’s efforts to stop the fire spreading, all of her furniture and belongings on the bottom floor have been ruined. The majority of the upstairs furniture in the house has also been smoke-damaged and can no longer be used. The mother-of-two estimates the cost of the damage to be in the thousands.

Fire crews say the blaze was triggered by a fault in the Nintendo Switch plug. It is hoped the company will pay for the damage owing to the fault, but they are yet to confirm.

The console was one of Rowan’s Christmas presents.

Stay-at-home mum Holly said: “He was upset because he thought had caused the fire.” Her youngest son Noah, aged 3, was at his dad’s house when the fire broke out.

After being told it will take six months to repair their home, the young family are now staying with Holly’s mum temporarily. But she admitted it has been a struggle.

“There’s seven of us in two rooms,” Holly said.

“It was upsetting because I moved out when I was 17 and I was there for four years. It’s the only house I have ever had, there was lots of sentimental stuff in there.

“I’m not bothered about the sofa and the other stuff, it’s more the sentimental stuff like cards from my partner and pictures the kids had made.”