A LIFETIME of sacrifice by a single mother of Princes Town to build a home for her family vanished in minutes, when a fire destroyed the structure on Wednesday.

The home that Maureen Burton spent nearly three decades building on Sixth Company Circular in Indian Walk was gutted, leaving her family homeless and shattering plans for what was meant to be a joyous double celebration in August — her 59th birthday and the baptism of her youngest grandchild.

Burton, a mother of three and grandmother of five, said the loss of the five-bedroom wooden and concrete house was so devastating that she described it as “feeling like losing a family member.”