Offer to replace family photos lost in Stourbridge fire

A photographer is offering to help families affected by the Stourbridge fire by replacing their lost photos.

Jane Jordan has been running a photography business in Stourbridge for more than 16 years and says it "would mean everything", even if she could help one family.

It comes after her hometown was left devastated by a blaze that consumed 19 properties, with 18 others damaged.

"It was so frightening. I was actually at home at the time and our road is right next to the Norton Road," Jordan recalled.

She added: "I could smell the fire and started to look out of the window and I could just see the sky was getting darker and darker with billowing smoke.

"Very quickly ash started to rain down on our property and it was just so frightening, we just were desperately trying to find out what was happening and where it was coming from.

"It was pretty terrifying."

Jordan said her immediate response was a need to help those affected.

"We could see the chaos, and you just feel like you want to help in some way but feel a bit helpless at the time," she said.

But more than a week on from the incident, Jordan says she hopes her vast archive of photos could be the key to easing some families' pain.

"There's a lot of families that have come back year after year and I know that these are photos that can't be recreated.

"I know how important these photographs are and my first thought [hearing about the loss of photos] was this is something I could possibly help with.

"I do archive all my photographs, it is a very good chance if a family has lost the photos I can go back through the archives and replace them.

"Even if just one family can get back the photographs they thought they'd lost forever, that would mean everything to me if I could give that back to them."

She said her advice to clients has always been to back up their most cherished photographs.

Jordan explained: "I always send advice, please back these up to at least two locations.

"Some kind of Cloud storage if you can, is always a good idea and then have a second place where you keep them.

"Just to know you'll be able to access them in the future is really important. It's really worth thinking about."

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