Support given for fire-struck family

THE Winter Valley community have gotten behind a local family who are recovering from losing their home to a fire that swept through the majority of their building nearly three weeks before Christmas.

Nicole and Simon Jones’ family home, which they lived in with their two children and niece, was gutted by flames in an incident now ruled to be accidental.

Mr Jones was alerted to the fire by his niece during the afternoon while he was sleeping after a nighttime nursing shift.

“She came up and said there was a fire coming in from the kitchen area. That’s how I found out,” he said.

“We didn’t get out with much. A few clothes, some books and CDs and DVDs. The majority of our furniture’s gone. Anything in the garage we’ll be able to salvage.

“If we had to go a percentage, I’d say 85 to 90 per cent is gone.”

With the exception of a handful of stools, the family’s niece Madeline’s bed was the only piece of furniture to be salvaged, while many other items are still to be sifted through.

The Joneses had the house built nine years ago.

“It’s the only home our kids have ever known,” Mrs Jones said.

Immediately following the incident, Mrs Jones’ sisters organised a GoFundMe page which has since raised more than $6000.

The family’s church, one2one Church of Christ, have also chipped in with a fundraising account that has raised more than $5500.

Currently living in temporary accommodation, Mr Jones said the family has been “overwhelmed” by the community’s drive to help.

“Everyone’s support has been amazing,” he said. “In fact, when I walked out of the house, I only had a pair of shorts on, and a neighbour gave me the shirt on my back.”

The Jones’ next-door neighbours offered their house as accommodation, while others have sent through gift vouchers, clothing, food, and toys and Christmas presents for their children.

The donated funds will be held by the family to be later spent on replacing furniture and amenities.

Mrs Jones said words can’t express the family’s gratitude to their community.

“Sometimes it’s the simple things in life you just can’t cope with doing or making a decision about, so things like having dinner cooked for us was amazing,” she said.

“You think it’s the minority of people that care, but really through this we’ve come to realise it’s the majority that care especially at this time of year and even with the rising cost of living.

“We just have no words.”

The GoFundMe page can be found at bit.ly/47dEiOQ while the one2one Church of Christ’s initiative is accessible via their Facebook page.