The best friend of a mother killed alongside her two children in a devastating Boxing Day house fire has paid a heart-breaking tribute, saying she will ‘miss her for a lifetime.’
Carmen Schmidt posted online that there were ‘no words’ for how devastated she felt by the death of Fionnghuala Shearman, 38, and her young son and daughter.
‘We lost the brightest of lights,’ she said.
Ms Schmidt, 45, who runs an upmarket yarn wool shop in Bath, posted the tribute as well-wishers raised more than £154,000 for Mrs Shearman’s police officer husband, Tom.
He desperately fought in vain to save his family from the deadly blaze at their home, in Brimscombe, near Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Posting to her 26,000 followers on Instagram, Ms Schmidt said she wanted to ‘crawl into a dark hole,’ but felt compelled to speak out about the tragedy because she and Mrs Shearman, who often posted about their trips to woollen fairs and craft shows on social media, built their businesses online ‘out loud for all to see.’
‘She was my best friend and there are no words for the devastation those close to her feel right now,’ Ms Schmidt wrote.
‘It was a catastrophic house fire that took Nu and her two children in the early hours of the morning. A tragic event with no earthy reason.
‘It goes without saying that this is unbelievably difficult to navigate, especially in a public online space. I’d like to crawl into a dark hole for a good while right now but that isn’t how we built our businesses and our lives. We built them out loud for all to see and so here I am.
Carmen Schmidt (pictured right) with Mrs Shearman who perished in the Boxing Day fire alongside her two young children
Mrs Shearman took part in Ms Schmidt’s podcast and the pair travelled to craft fairs together
Ms Schmidt shared this picture of Mrs Shearman and another friend with her online tribute
Other friends described their shock at Mrs Shearman’s death, describing her as ‘kind’ and an ‘absolute force of nature’
‘For now, please go hug your loved ones and tell the people in your life how much they mattered to you.
‘Nu was extremely good at this, she loved big and hard and I’m so grateful to have been in her orbit and I will miss her for a lifetime.’
Another friend, Amy Smith posted: ‘Nu was the best kind of human; honest, warm, expressive, not afraid to be herself. I always enjoyed any time spent in her company. I am absolutely gutted to hear the news.’
While others described creative Mrs Shearman, who also shared her knitting creations online with her social media followers, as ‘the sweetest soul,’ ‘an absolute queen’ and a ‘force of nature.’
Today it also transpired that Mrs Shearman, who was a keen runner, lost her own mother, when she was aged just seven.
Earlier this year she ran the Bath half marathon with her husband, raising money for Cancer Research UK.
On the fundraising page she wrote: ‘Running this for mum and for a better future for me, my kids, my incredible friends and everyone that’s been directly impacted by cancer.’
Emergency services were called to Mr and Mrs Shearman’s mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage on Brimscombe Hill at about 3am on Boxing Day.
Mr Shearman, 37, a serving police officer with the Gloucestershire force, smashed a window in an attempt to reach his children’s bedroom from the outside but was beaten back by the flames.
Tragically, Mrs Shearman and both the couple’s children, Eve, seven, and four-year-old son Ohner, all died in the inferno.
A gofundme set up for Mr Shearman has already raised more than £154,000 in donations in just a few hours.
The original £110,000 target has since been increased to £190,000.
In an update, Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher, of Gloucestershire police, said the couple were woken by the fire and had attempted to reach their children in the rear bedroom.
‘They have been unable to get to the back bedroom due to the ferocity of the fire,’ he said.
Serving Gloucestershire police officer Tom Shearman with his wife of around ten years, Fionnghuala Shearman, and their children Eve, aged seven, and four-year-old son Ohner. Tragically, Mrs Shearman and their two children died in a Boxing Day fire
Emergency services were called to a mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage in Brimscombe, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, at about 3am on Boxing Day
‘The father has smashed his way out of the house through a bathroom window in order to try to access the children’s bedroom via the outside.
‘He has been unable to enter the property via that bedroom window.
‘He has then tried to re-enter the property through the bathroom window, by which stage the fire has taken hold in the bathroom and he’s unable to get back into the upstairs bedrooms.
‘He has subsequently gone downstairs and tried to force entry via the front and the back door but has been unable to get back inside to the property.
‘It is at this point our colleagues from emergency services have attended and have started managing and dealing with that fire.’
Mr Fletcher said the fire was thought to have started on the ground floor of the property and investigations were ongoing to establish the cause, but it was not being treated as suspicious.
The roof, ceilings and stairs have all been destroyed at the house, which has suffered significant internal damage, the officer said.
Mr Fletcher said other members of the emergency services had witnessed the ‘anguish’ of Mr Shearman when he was unable to rescue his wife and children.
Mr Shearman and Mrs Shearman. A Now, a gofundme set up for Mr Shearman has raised more than £125,000 in donations
‘We are not treating this as a suspicious incident at this time,’ the senior officer added.
‘This would appear to be a tragic accident that’s occurred in the early hours of Boxing Day.
‘The surviving member of this family is a serving police officer at Gloucestershire Constabulary and again our hearts and prayers go out to him and all of his colleagues who know him very well.
‘He is working with us to try to understand what exactly has happened within that property.’
He added: ‘We have multiple witnesses who describe the anguish that he was going through, his inability to get in and save his children and save his wife.
‘He is, as you can imagine, in a very distraught way.’
Temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said: ‘This is an unimaginable tragedy and my thoughts are with our colleague, along with all of those involved and impacted by what has happened.
‘At a time when we are all acutely aware of family and the joys that they can bring, my heart breaks at the indescribable pain that they must be experiencing.’
Mrs Shearman ran bespoke handbag manufacturer Hide & Hammer, making fashion accessories from leather and canvas fabric.
A friend of the family told the Daily Mail that what happened was ‘absolutely shocking’.
‘We are all shellshocked to be honest with you,’ she said.
‘We don’t know what happened (to cause the fire).’
