FAMILY L OSES EVERYTHING BUT FIREY S S AVE DOG

AS MANY Queenslanders sit and wait to hear news from fires gripping the state, one family has been dealt a horror blow: they’ve lost everything.

Narelle and Scott Collins’ worst fears were realised after photos from Deepwater showed nothing was left of their home of four- and- a- half years.

The couple, along with their 25- year- old son Joshua, were evacuated from their Deepwater property last week.

Now with nothing to return to, the couple is focusing on the positive: their pet dog Percy was saved by firies.

“We couldn’t find him and we were in a panic … you have to make that awful call: do I wait, save my dog, or do I save myself, my wife and my son?” Mr Collins said. “Obviously we chose to leave the dog, which was hard.”

Fortunately firefighters managed to save their beloved dog and having him back has picked them up from the depths of despair.

But the family now face an uncertain future, unsure of what it will take to rebuild.

Their son had just moved back in, bringing all of his things to the home. “It’s just shattering,” Mr Collins said. “You start to realise just what you’ve lost. “I still had a few old Smurfs that I had from when I was 3 or 4, that my kids played with that I then wanted my grandkids to play with,” he said.

But one of the items most dear to Scott was his extensive record collection. He said it was like losing a part of himself.

“With my records, it became an obsession. I just loved the old records.

“But ( in the end) it’s something that’s on a low list of priorities when you think of your kids and your grandkids … but it still hurts.” Now their thoughts are focused on others. “The fire’s still going there so you have to be thinking of the fireys and what they’re going through, and how their lives are still in danger,” Mr Collins said. “They’re trying to do their best to get it safe for people like us to go in and have a look what’s left.

“The fireys put such effort in because it’s their neighbours and their friends. “The community will rebuild. “You’ve just got to pray there’s no loss of life.”