( CNN ) -- Family members and friends of billionaire Richard Branson , including actress Kate Winslet , were taking stock of their blessings after their narrow escape from the business magnate 's burning Caribbean island home , which had been ignited by a lightning strike . `` I 'm just so glad that everyone is safe . And this very easily could not have been the case , '' Winslet said in a news release Wednesday , two days after fire destroyed the house on Necker Island , the 74-acre private island the Virgin Group chairman owns in the British Virgin Islands . Said Winslet : `` I will never forget Richard placing his arms around both my children as we were watching the flames , and saying , 'At the end of the day , what you realize is that all that matters is the people that you love . Everything else is just stuff . And none of that stuff matters . ' '' Winslet was one of about 20 people who were in the house when lightning -- from a storm spawned as Hurricane Irene was passing through the Caribbean -- struck the house at around 4 a.m. and set the house ablaze , Branson said in a statement after the incident . Branson said Winslet helped carry his 90-year-old mother to safety . Branson 's daughter , Holly , was quoted as saying she awoke that morning to shouting , `` which was hard to hear over the howling hurricane winds and rain , but I knew instantly something was wrong . I went downstairs to be met by my older cousins , Ned and Jack , who were shouting for everyone to get out . I looked down the corridor to see a raging fire in the main room . `` The flames were quickly spreading to where everyone was sleeping , and we knew instantly the urgency to get everyone to safety , '' Holly Branson said . `` Once we knew everyone was out of the house , I ran into the office to call the manager to let him know what was happening . As us Bransons are renowned for practical jokes , he did n't believe me at first . '' She said she `` ran as fast as I could barefoot in the winds and rain to get to my mum and dad to let them know we were OK ; I hated the thought of them worrying . '' Branson 's son , Sam , said that all he could see when he woke up `` was a huge ball of flames and a giant orange glow reflecting off the rain . '' `` I thought everyone inside was being burned alive , '' he said . `` I could n't believe my eyes . I ran barefoot over cacti , through the hurricane-force winds , all I could think was I 've got to try and save what was left of my family , and did my best not to break down . '' He said he found out they were safe , `` but the feeling of shock remained . '' Richard Branson , who said he plans to rebuild the house , spoke of an encouraging encounter on Wednesday : . `` The day after the fire , Kate , myself and my children Holly and Sam went up to the ruins of what was the Great House , '' he said . `` To our absolute delight walking across the ashes was Necker 's pet tortoise , ET . ... None of us could understand how anything could have survived that inferno , and ET will have pride of place in the new Great House once it 's built . '' The island had been featured on such TV programs as `` MTV Cribs , '' and TV personalities Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo were recently married on the island .
Branson 's home in the Virgin Islands burns down after being struck by lightning . ` ` I ' m just so glad that everyone is safe , '' actress Kate Winslet says . ` ` What matters is the people you love , '' he tells her . ` ` Everything else is just stuff '' Branson 's kids describe waking to a nightmare as flames consume the house .