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 £170,000 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 and sewing creations online with her social media followers, as ‘the sweetest soul,’ ‘an absolute queen’ and a ‘force of nature.’

Mrs Shearman also collaborated with knitting enthusiasts in America, which she visited to sell her specialist bags and accessories.