Two best friends ‘overwhelmed’ by support from Cromarty locals after campervan fire left them with nothing

Helena Harvey and Ellie O'Brien from Sheffield were travelling to Scotland to visit a sick relative when on the way their van caught fire on the Cromarty seafront.

By Ross Hempseed

September 19 2023, 1:38 pm

Ellie O'Brien (L) and Helena Harvey (R) were left without any transport or accommodation when their van caught fire. Image: Helena Harvey.

Two best friends who lost everything following a campervan fire in Cromarty say support from the local community has been “fantastic”.

Helena Harvey, 42 and Ellie O’Brien, 32, had just exited their campervan parked along Marine Terrace in Cromarty when the vehicle burst into flames last Friday.

Most of their belongings, including electronics, clothes and toiletries, were lost in the blaze.

Luckily the duo and their dogs, Callie and Tobey, escaped unscathed.

Tobey (L) and Callie (R) were also travelling in the campervan and were unharmed in the incident. Image: Helena Harvey/

The pals from Sheffield had been journeying up to Fodderty to visit Ms O’Brien’s ill father and made a pit stop in Cromarty when tragedy struck.

Following the fire and being left with almost nothing, they have been “overwhelmed” by the community rallying around them.

Ms O’Brien said: “I think we are still in a bit of shock, but the local community of Cromarty were absolutely amazing.

Campervan was totally destroyed in a blaze on Friday

“They came out with blankets and cups of tea and some people took the dogs for us while we were checked over by the ambulance, so we couldn’t have asked for more on the Friday.”

Ms Harvey added: “There were lots of people watching on and not a lot of people knew what to do, and then suddenly everyone sprang into action, so it was really helpful.”

Locals offered them somewhere to stay for the night, and a cafe gave them pizza for dinner.

The campervan and most of the duo's belongings were destroyed. — The campervan and most of the duo’s belongings were destroyed. Image: Helena Harvey.

Since most of their clothing was destroyed in the blaze, the local thrift
shop also allowed the two women to help themselves.

They were even given the game Dobble by someone who heard them mention it was their favourite.

While there were many generous offers, the pair eventually chose to stay at the Royal Hotel after the owner gave them a generous discount.

Ms Harvey said: “It was a real sense of community rallying around total strangers, which for us was really appreciated.”

Intent on still visiting Ms O’Brien’s father, a helpful local drove them to pick up a hire car, which they are also going to use to travel back to Sheffield this evening.

‘When bad things happen, look around for the helpers’

But their bad luck was to continue as on the drive to Fodderty, the hire car suffered two blown tires – causing a three-hour delay.

While they have had a string of bad luck, they are trying to see the lighter side of the situation and think positively.

The van quickly burst into a raging fire on the seafront at Cromarty. Image: Helena Harvey.

Following the fire, they also started a GoFundMe to help with the costs, which has already reached nearly double what they set out to raise.

Ms O’Brien said: “To see the GoFundMe go past our target has been shocking but in the best way.

“It’s like we’ve had two shocks this weekend, one has been absolutely awful and the other has been a ray of light in the middle.

The van was cordoned off by fire following the blaze in Cromarty — The van was cordoned off by fire following the blaze. Image: Helen Harvey.

“It’s like when bad things happen, look around for the helpers and I think that’s what we’ve found in the local community of Cromarty and Inverness. It’s overwhelming.

“You see so much negativity happen in the world currently and life is not easy for anybody, but to see the generosity and desire to help people who need it, we can’t even put into words how grateful we are.”