Fire

[JDNSW]

Yesterday I just got back from voting in the local government elections, and I got a phone call from my son in Yass to tell me his house was on fire. I left there almost immediately, and found the house almost totally destroyed, and both parents with minor burns and my son with minor smoke inhalation (he went back in to rescue the ferret, which bit him). All four kids got out unharmed, largely because the 11yo had a home fire action presentation at school last week. They were left with the car, and the clothes they were wearing. The car keys and my son's wallet were recovered by police after the fire was out, as was the box containing mementoes of their dead child. Some other stuff may be recoverable, but most of their belongings have been destroyed by fire, heat, water and smoke.

The community response has been remarkable. By dark a large quantity of clothes and toys had appeared at teh motel room the insurer had provided, and by lunchtime today there had been many more offers, most of which could not be accepted yet, because they have nowhere to put anything. We'll know better where we are going after the insurance assessor has had a look on Monday.

I brought all the kids back here today - they were coing here for the holidays anyway.

John

[LandyAndy]

Sorry to hear they lost the house JD,great to hear they are all well.
Andrew

[Ranga]

Sorry to hear the terrible news about the fire, and the wonderful news about everyone surviving. I'm confident if there's anything AULRO members can do to help, they'll answer the call. Just let us know ;)

[S3ute]

Hello.

Sorry to hear of your familys' misfortune.

I trust that things will work out OK in the end.

Cheers,

[The ho har's]

So sorry to hear John, good to find out the family are all alright. Wish them

our best, and let us all know if we can do anything to help.

[dullbird]

Sorry to hear JD was it just a house fire or was it a result of a bush fire?

I only ask as there appears to be a few fires breaking out lately

[bob10]

The good news is everyone is ok. Sounds like they have good support, thinking of you all, Bob

[Ralph1Malph]

Terrible News,
May the future be just as bright as the past.

Ralph

[Landy Smurf]

that is terrible very lucky everyone got out as this often doesnt happen. but i couldnt imagine losing all those priceless items.

[Disco Muppet]

Terrible news mate, sorry to hear it.
As others have said, anything we can do to help :)

[George130]

Glad they are all ok. Sing out if there are things that can help.

[rick130]

Really nasty John and they'll be processing what's happened for a long time to come, I know from experience. ;)

Even though you may rationalise it and tell yourself it's only material things, it does effect you quite deeply.

[DeanoH]

Everyone's OK, including the bloody ferrett. :eek: This is good.

Lots of family 'heirlooms' and momentos will have beeen damaged/lost which is heart breaking. But not nearly as heart breaking as losing something more valuable, but still very distressing.

Managing the heads now is more important than the physical aspects but trawling through the debris can be theraputic. You may be suprised as to what effects are salvageable.

I wish you all well in the days to come, these will be hard but the most important assets are safe and what an excellent outcome for the 11 yo. whose input helped. Perhaps recognition of his/her input (with siblings help ?) will help offset his/her losses and trauma. :)

Deano :) (7 years RFB Captain).

[JDNSW]

Sorry to hear JD was it just a house fire or was it a result of a bush fire?

I only ask as there appears to be a few fires breaking out lately

House fire, but probably not helped by a brisk wind. Cause uncertain.

John

[JDNSW]

I didn't mention, the kids also got the dog out, and it is here as well. Not the ferret, they found someone to look after it.

John

[BMKal]

Sorry to hear that JD. A fire like that and the loss of possessions is a hard thing to get over. The good part is that everyone is OK.

[Killer]

Glad to hear everybody is safe JD, it sounds like they have a lot of community support behind them, it is great what communities can do for each other.
Cheers, Mick.

[meldrew]

My thoughts are with you and your family JD, Glad to hear that everyone got out, The pets being safe will make it easier on the kids. Don't hesitate to contact relief organizations if you need immediate help with things. One good thing that comes from a disaster is to find out how wonderful people can be. We were caught in Black Saturday and my then 6 yo started to use some of the skills he had learnt at school. Children can be amazing at times like this. I hope you can recover some of your things. Regards Ashley

[numpty]

Sorry to hear that John and glad everyone is ok.

[87County]

sorry to read about this JD, at least all the family got out OK

[JDNSW]

My thoughts are with you and your family JD, Glad to hear that everyone got out, The pets being safe will make it easier on the kids. Don't hesitate to contact relief organizations if you need immediate help with things. .... Regards Ashley


Thanks. Already talking to them, but not a lot they can do at present - clothes and toys for the kids came from a drop organised by the next door neighbour (a former Lions president who knows everyone in the town). Not much they can do until they have somewhere to live - at the moment the parents are living in a motel at insurance company expense. As I said, the kids are here. They are coping reasonably although I had a 14yo weeping on my shoulder today "I just want to go home!" although she fully realises that there is no home to go to.

The parents are hoping to be here for the weekend, although to some extent this depends on what happens with the insurer - latest is that they are asking discounting the police investigation and sending their own lot in to find the cause of the fire. Sounds a bit like a friend of ours 50km after leaving here hit a horse float in his near new car. The local agent for the insurer said it was a write-off, but head office didn't believe them, and shipped the remains to Melbourne for examination - which confirmed the verdict.

Talking of insurers - my son got me to call them to find out what was happening, because he gave up after five minutes on hold, and was reluctant to keep on hold on a mobile (since he has no landline now). I called them, took over ten minutes to get to someone, and then they refused to talk to me - the policy holder had to authorise it. I tried to point out that the long wait was why the policy holder could not and eventually got them to call him to get me authorised to talk to them. It took over half an hour, and was very stressful.

John

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Sorry to hear of your family's misfortune, but as always insurance companies are interested in taking money in and making it most difficult to pay it out in claims.

[isuzurover]

Sorry to hear John. At least they all made it out!

[JDNSW]

Thanks to everyone who has offered sympathy. No help needed at this time.

John

[JDNSW]

Made the local paper.

Home destroyed by fire | Yass Tribune (http://www.yasstribune.com.au/story/316824/home-destroyed-by-fire/?cs=1302)

John

[meldrew]

Not a nice way to make the newspaper John, gee you were lucky that nobody was seriously hurt. Thanks for sharing the newspaper link.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

You can (often) wade through floods and hang on for cyclones but a fire---
Great news everyone is OK John,,,