Baptism of fire

By Kelly Yates
A COUPLE who lost everything except the clothes on their backs in the Narre Warren South fire on Black Saturday have spent the past 12 months re-building their lives in Cranbourne North.
A year on, and Vincent and Marika Felix still describe that horrific day on Saturday 7 February as being like “hell”.
Mr Felix told the News that the past year had been both emotionally and financially traumatic.
“It’s been really hard for us,” he said.
“We’ve moved into a new house now but we still think the worst when we get really hot days.” Recalling the events of Black Saturday, Mr Felix remembers seeing thick smoke in his backyard and some neighbours running down the street.
“All that was going on in my mind was that we had to run for our lives.”
The pair jumped into their cars and drove to a relative’s house around the corner and then returned to their Langbourne Drive home to find it had burnt to the ground.
“Within a maximum of 10 minutes, the house was completely gone,” Mr Felix said.
“It’s a feeling I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through, not even my worst enemy.”
The couple says it has been the support from friends, family and colleagues that have helped them through.
“We’d like to thank each and every one of them for their help,” he said.