Fire victims need help
Family lost possessions in blaze
A FAMILY of 10 is in need of help after their Gatton home was gutted by fire early on Wednesday morning.
The family, including extended family members who were visiting for a celebration, lost everything and have been staying with relatives in Grantham.
Fire victim Charlene Manuel contacted multiple support organisations and tried to speak to social workers at the hospital, but said she had received next to no help.
“If my sister-in-law wasn’t here for me to go to I don’t know what would happen. I might still be here (outside my house) because no one has actually come to us,” Ms Manuel said.
“I just don’t know what to do or how to do it.”
The family escaped with nothing except the clothes they were wearing and a bag of expired passports.
With no valid form of identification, the family is unable to access their bank accounts and as a result, has no money.
“The bank said, can you prove that it’s your house (that burnt down in the fire),” Ms Manuel said.
It’s a living nightmare for the mother and grandmother who continue to have flashbacks of the fire.
“Last night, all I could hear was my grandchildren screaming. I can still hear this, I can hear my daughter yelling, she can’t find the door and my older daughter yelling ‘where’s my baby’,” Ms Manuel said.
Ms Manuel’s father, daughter and two grandchildren were all visiting Gatton to celebrate her 18-year-old’s birthday but they also lost everything in the fire.
“We really need support to get my daughter home to Sydney and to get my father to try and get passports for him and my nephew to return back to NZ,” she said.
Ms Manuel’s elderly father is a type-one diabetic and is blind in one eye. He nearly didn’t make it out of the fire.
Ms Manuel’s 10-year-old granddaughter sustained burns in her mouth, nose and on her leg.
Her five-month-old granddaughter and elderly father were also treated for burns.
“They (the hospital) treated him ... and told us we needed to sort something out for today because they couldn’t help,” Ms Manuel said.
His medication cost $330, which Ms Manuel had to borrow from her sister-in-law.
“I lost everything. There’s still nothing for us to even have showers,” she said.
The family is also trying to find emergency accommodation for their two cats.