Kristine and Paul Out are rebuilding their lives after fire engulfed their home.
By Rebecca Fraser
A DOVETON family left devastated after fire gutted their home is getting by with a lot of help from the community.
Father of two Paul Out said it was ‘soul destroying’ to watch his home of more than ten years go up in flames.
The Privet Court home caught ablaze late last month when a fire started near a computer workstation in a lounge room at the front of the home.
Flames also engulfed the roof when a second fire started a few hours after the first blaze.
The family does not have insurance and the home suffered extensive fire, smoke and water damage.
Few belongings could be saved.
Mr Out and wife Kristine said they had been overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and neighbours since the blaze, and were determined to overcome the ordeal.
The family of four slept on the floor of next door neighbour Janet Smith’s house for a week after the fire. Mr Out said they were extremely grateful for her support.
He also thanked his other neighbour Ray Rebeira who brought out food and warm clothing for his family as they stood and watched fire officers tend to the blaze.
Mr Out was working at the time of the first fire and returned home to find the front of the house gutted.
The family will now try and consolidate their debts in a bid to finance the rebuilding of their home.
They are currently staying in emergency accommodation in Dandenong North that will cost them $320 a fortnight in rent. This is on top of the mortgage repayments that the couple must continue to pay.
“So many wonderful people have helped us. Doveton might be a low-socio economic area but it sure does have a strong sense of community,” Mr Out said.
The couple’s youngest son Joshua, 10, attends Doveton North Primary School that has also thrown its support behind the family.
Today (Thursday) the school will have a free dress day and disco to raise money for the family and they have also organised a builder to come and inspect the home and quote the cost of rebuilding.
Joshua has also been given new books, uniforms and lunches and the school has arranged emergency relief funding through the Education Department.
“The help has been phenomenal,” Mr Out said.
Mr Out, who works two jobs, said they had decided to forgo insurance to try and repay some debts.
“You just don’t expect this to happen,” Mr Out said.
The family had working smoke detectors but when Mrs Out tried to use the family’s fire extinguisher it failed to work.
Mrs Out encouraged people to get their fire extinguishers checked regularly and make sure they knew how to use them correctly.
Joshua and brother Thomas said they too had been surprised by all the support they had received at school.
Thomas, a year 7 student in Lyndale Secondary College’s accelerated learning program said he had lost many of his schoolbooks in the blaze.
However, much to his parents’ delight, certificates from a recent science and English competition where Thomas received a distinction were salvagable.
Mr Out said their situation highlighted the need for free emergency accommodation in Doveton and said when the family got back on track he would be keen to work with the community to try and raise funds for such a project.
