Three people left with nothing by the Keel House fire have opened fundraisers. £760 between them by Wednesday afternoon, in their own words, and how to give.

Three people who lost their homes in the Keel House fire on Dorchester Road in Weymouth have opened fundraising pages, and between them they had raised £760 by Wednesday afternoon. Two of the three are asking for £500, enough to restart a life rather than replace one.

The fire took hold in a top-floor flat in the early hours of Sunday 20 September and spread into the roof space. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was called at 00:38, about 30 firefighters were there at the height of it, the block was fully evacuated and the stop message came at 6.19pm, nearly 18 hours later. (DWFRS incident report) The government’s energy certificate register lists 32 flats at the address.

The figures below were read off the fundraising pages themselves on the afternoon of Wednesday 23 September. They move constantly, so check each page for the current total.

“All belongings and documents”

Ola Szwan opened a page on Wednesday morning for herself, her partner Craig and his father. It had taken £510 from 14 donations against a £1,000 target when we checked.

Myself, my partner and his dad have all sadly lost our home, all belongings and documents to a fire/flood at Keel House, Dorchester Road in Weymouth.

She writes that the three of them have had “ample amount of support from family, friends and our local community which has made the world of a difference”, and that Craig and his father have lost “11 years of memories, hard work and a place they have always known as home”.

The last line of her page is about other people: any donations, she writes, “will let us help our neighbours who have also been left with nothing”. (GoFundMe, Ola Szwan)

“All he has are his phone and the clothes he was wearing”

Flames breaking through the roof of Keel House at night, with a ladder against the building and hose lines across the grass
Keel House alight in the early hours of Sunday 20 September, photographed from the grass in front of the block. Photo: via the Please help Ryan after a devastating fire GoFundMe appeal

The first of the three pages went up on Sunday evening, hours after the fire, and it was not written by the person it is for. Joanne Pearce set it up for her nephew Ryan, who GoFundMe says is 31 and who has Stargardt disease and is registered blind. It stood at £180 from three donations against a £500 target.

This is compounded by the fact that Ryan has Stargardt disease and is legally blind. He relies on specialist technology and equipment to navigate the world independently, most of which was among the belongings damaged or lost in the aftermath of the fire. All he has are his phone and the clothes he was wearing.

That is the detail that separates this appeal from an ordinary house fire appeal, and his aunt spells out why:

Replacing the lost items isn’t simply about replacing possessions. They are tools that help him read, communicate, travel, manage everyday tasks and maintain his independence.

She ends: “His condition and situation have left him feeling very isolated and I want to show him that there are kind and compassionate people out there who he can rely on.” (GoFundMe, Joanne Pearce)

“One of the flats closest to the fire”

Martin James holding a pike beside a fishing lake
Martin James, who lived in flat 30, in the photograph on his own appeal. Photo: via the Help with restoring my life GoFundMe appeal

Martin James, who says he lived in flat 30, opened his page on Tuesday evening and had raised £70 from three donations towards £500.

I am probably not going to have the opportunity to retrieve my belongings due to damage and the unstable structure surrounding them.

He describes himself as “one of the many victims involved in the Dorchester road keel house house fire”, and says he is not looking to raise much, just enough to cover a month while he buys the things he needs to start again. (GoFundMe, Martin James)

Three Keel House fundraisers and where they stood on 23 September 2026 Ola Szwan, for three people, has raised 510 pounds of a 1,000 pound target from 14 donations. Joanne Pearce, for her nephew Ryan, has raised 180 pounds of a 500 pound target from 3 donations. Martin James, of flat 30, has raised 70 pounds of a 500 pound target from 3 donations. Three Keel House appeals, and where they stand Read off the fundraising pages on the afternoon of Wednesday 23 September 2026 Ola Szwan, for three people £510 of £1,000 14 donations Joanne Pearce, for her nephew Ryan £180 of £500 3 donations Martin James, flat 30 £70 of £500 3 donations Source: the three GoFundMe pages. Bar lengths are to scale against each target. Graphic by The Dorset Post
Where the three Keel House appeals stood on Wednesday afternoon. Every figure is taken from the fundraising pages themselves.

What it means for you

If you want to give, go to the pages themselves rather than to any link sent to you by message: Ola Szwan’s, Joanne Pearce’s for Ryan and Martin James’s. All three are individual fundraisers rather than charity appeals, so there is no Gift Aid on them and the money goes to the organiser named on the page.

There are three separate pages because there were 32 flats. If you knew someone in the block, the fastest help is usually practical and local: the organisers each say what they are short of, and Ola Szwan’s page says outright that she wants any surplus to reach neighbours who have also been left with nothing.

If you have been made homeless by the fire and have nowhere to stay tonight, Dorset Council’s emergency and out of hours help page gives the number for the housing team outside office hours.

Dorchester Road is the main road between Weymouth town centre and Dorchester, and closures around the block have affected journeys through that side of the town. Our Dorset roadworks and travel page carries the county’s planned closures.

What is still not known

The fire service has published nothing further since its 8pm update on 20 September. That means three things are still open:

  • the cause, which the service said it was investigating “alongside the police”
  • whether anyone was hurt, on which the service has published nothing either way
  • when, or whether, residents of the 32 flats can go back in

Martin James’s page is the only public account we have of the state of the building, and it is his own: he says he does not expect to get his belongings back because of the damage and “the unstable structure surrounding them”. We have not been able to confirm that independently.

Sources