A FAMILY has shared their excitement as they are preparing to reopen their restaurant one year after a devastating fire forced them to close their doors and left them homeless.
Claire and Justin Reeves, who run Reeves Restaurant Dunster, will reopen their business in September, a year after a blaze destroyed their kitchen and left their home uninhabitable.
The fire broke out just before 1am on Thursday, September 4, 2025, after a tumble dryer self-combusted in the room where desserts were prepared.
It quickly spread through the kitchen and filled the rest of the building with thick, acrid smoke.
Claire and Justin Reeves said in a previous interview with the County Gazette: "You can’t comprehend how much damage can be done by fire."
The couple, who lived above the restaurant with their two children, were woken by fire alarms shortly before 1am.
Justin Reeves said: "We went down to the restaurant floor and there was a strong smell of smoke."
"There was thick, acrid black smoke" coming from the tumble dryer, with flames quickly spreading to the whole kitchen.
"I couldn’t breathe; it was the smoke. You just don’t appreciate how debilitating it is. As you are trying to breathe, your whole body is screaming to get out. I tried to breathe in, and my lungs burnt."
Realising it was too dangerous to fight the flames, the family escaped and called the fire service at around 1.04am.
Explosions could be heard as they reached safety outside.
Claire said: "The fire ripped through the dessert room and through the commercial kitchen, so everything in the commercial kitchen was ruined.
"The electricity was completely condemned."
She added: "The fire funnelled up the stairs and created massive smoke damage. It seeped in everywhere; there were no hiding places."
In a previous interview, Justin said it would cost around £400,000 to get the family back to where they were and that they were left temporarily homeless.
The fire destroyed the kitchen and caused severe smoke damage to the restaurant and both floors above, forcing the family out of their home.
They said around 80 per cent of their possessions were lost, with smoke damage corroding even metal items and seeping into floorboards and furniture.
Even the furniture they managed to salvage has retained permanent stains from the blaze.
Clair said: "It's an awful reminder. When we look at anything we did manage to salvage, there is that reminder, which is quite hard emotionally.
"It's really hard to move on, and we don't feel at home yet because so much of the stuff we have here isn't our own. "
Despite the trauma and disruption, the family has focused on the progress made during the rebuild.
The listed building has been fully rewired, and a new, compliant kitchen has been installed—a long-standing goal for the couple.
Claire Reeves said: "It has been a journey; there is no two ways about it.
"We are trying to look at the positives.
"It would be very easy to focus on all the worry and the stress, but negativity is such a hungry emotion, so we have tried not to feed that, instead focusing on what good has come out of this."
One of the unexpected positives, she said, has been the time spent together as a family, which they had missed out on during their years running the restaurant.
She said: "Mainly the good has been family time.
"We haven’t realised how much family time we have missed out on over the last 16 years, so that has been really special.
"We still pinch ourselves that we can sit down and have a family meal together.
"So that has been lovely."
The couple are now looking forward to reopening the restaurant and returning to what they love.
They said: "We are so looking forward to going back to business, back to routine and back to doing what we love.
"We want to start giving back to the community.
"I think once the final push is done, we are going to be on cloud nine."
The Reeves family said they have been overwhelmed by the support from the community, who have sent daily messages of encouragement.
They plan to reopen on Friday, September 18, with a special thank you evening on Saturday, September 12, for those who have supported them throughout the past year.
The couple have also used their experience to warn others about the dangers of laundry fires.
They say the fire was caused by residual heat in tea towels left in the tumble dryer, despite the machine being switched off.
They said: "It is not good enough just to let your tumble dryer finish its cycle.
"If it's still warm, it must be aired and not touch each other.
"If we could save just one life, that would make all the difference.
"We are just grateful we are still alive and that it didn’t take the whole high street in Dunster."
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