I still have flashbacks of the explosion that blew up my house

Marie McDowall spent almost all her savings buying and renovating a house in South Ayrshire, where she planned to spend her retirement enjoying time with her family.

The 66-year-old moved to Kincaidston, near Ayr, in June 2021 – she loved the area, had joined the local bowling club and looked forward to walking to the nearby community centre.

Four months later, while sitting on her porch, she heard an explosion.

A corroded gas pipe caused the explosion outside a neighbouring property, leaving a family of four in hospital and surrounding homes destroyed or beyond repair.

“I didn’t know what had happened,” Marie said. “I ran out, like everyone else. I saw the house, there was nothing left.”

“I was sitting on my porch and boom, I lost almost everything,”

The October 18 explosion caused no deaths, but its impact on the community is still being felt nearly three years later.

Marie became completely deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other. She also suffered from panic attacks and depression.

“I had nightmares, I still have flashbacks sometimes,” she said.

“I tried to get an appointment with a counsellor but it was during Covid and they didn’t want face-to-face meetings, everything happened online which I didn’t really find helpful.”

Many residents have had to fight with their insurance to cover the cost of damage to cars and property.

Mary’s house was initially left standing, but was eventually demolished along with the other worst-hit houses.

She was forced to move into two rental properties – the second because its first owner decided to sell – and had to gather furniture for her current home.

The rent is being paid by her insurer Direct Line Group, but she has not yet received any compensation for the contents and does not expect to receive any compensation.

Today, the area remains an empty, fenced-off site and no specific date has been set for when the houses will be rebuilt.

Much of Mary’s sadness comes from not having a place she can call her own.

“This is home, I want my own home,” she said. “This is not my home, I can’t put pictures on the walls.

“The houses were supposed to be rebuilt, it should have been done this year in October, but now the company says it could be done next year. I think about it every night: someone should do something.

“I’m sitting here, miserable. I don’t know what else to do.”

In September 2022, the Health and Safety at Work (HSE) agency published a report into the cause of the explosion.

He said there were “numerous localised points of corrosion” in the service pipe leading to Gorse Park number 3, but there would be no prosecution – a conclusion some residents accepted. described as a “kick in the teeth”.

Meanwhile, Ramsay McMichael Consulting took over management of the project 15 months after the explosion and warned that initial deadlines were subject to change.

She said her “focus was on the interests of all owners” and she “liaised with other stakeholders in a financially complex project” in a sympathetic manner.

The company said it is now moving closer to the procurement phase, which will see the project move to site shortly thereafter.

Insurer Direct Line Group said it remained very sensitive to Marie’s situation, which it described as “extremely complex”.

The company said it was in “dialogue regarding the construction of her new home” and was in contact with her to agree a settlement regarding her contents claim.

Marie hopes the wait won’t be too long.