Staff and children had to evacuate the nursery after a fence in the Walnut Tree Estate, where the setting is based, caught alight and quickly spread.
A crowdfunding page has subsequently been set up to help those impacted by the fire within the housing estate and nursery. At the time of publishing this story, a total of £4,295 had been raised, close to the target of £5,000. Behind the crowdfunding campaign is charity - Walton Community Support Project.
Reports suggest around 39 houses and the nursery, which is operated by Grandir UK, were evacuated by firefighters who tackled the blaze – one of dozens of fires across the country on Tuesday when a red weather warning of extreme heat was in place, as parts of the UK experienced temperatures of more than 40 degrees.
On the day of the fire, Kiddi Caru tweeted, ‘IMPORTANT INFORMATION: A neighbourhood property next to our Kiddi Caru Day Nursery in #Walnut Tree #MiltonKeynes has caught fire and the emergency services are in attendance. All the children and our staff team have been safely evacuated. Further updates will follow.’
Writing on Kiddi Caru Walnut Tree’s Facebook page, parents have thanked staff at the setting for ensuring their children were evacuated to safety.
One parent, Michelle Green, said, ‘Thank you Lou (nursery manager) and her amazing team for keeping our children safe. And to Blackberry Clinic staff for opening up their space to children. And of course, to the fire service. The nursery’s community will need to come together to support everyone.’
Parent company Grandir UK operates two other Kiddi Caru nurseries in Milton Keynes.
When Nursery World contacted Kiddi Caru, a spokesperson said an update would be provided soon on the ‘constantly’ changing situation.
Photo courtesy of @Karl_Downey on Twitter