Through the fire: Fiona's story

Fiona and her husband, Angus, lost their home and everything in it when the Black Summer bushfires devastated major parts of Australia in late 2019 – early 2020. Two years on, Fiona talks about that fateful day and how 'gobsmacked' she’s been left with the help received from the Salvos.

Sitting in her recently built home with her trusted hound by her side, Fiona feels grateful – not just for making it out of danger safely and that none of her family or friends lost their lives, but also the benevolence of Salvos supporters, which paved the way to recovery for her and families like hers that had lost everything.

How it all started

Fiona is no stranger to bushfires. Seven years ago, her house escaped a close call when another out of control bushfire burned dangerously close to her property but narrowly missed her house.

The story was a bit different this time.

“This fire began in the national park kilometres away, and it burned for weeks, creeping closer and closer,” recalls Fiona of the Black Summer bushfires. According to her, the fire safety authorities were unable to extinguish this slow-burning blaze, as it was located deep in the protected area of the park.

When it moved perilously close, the bushfire brigade started backburning to keep it in check. But with no rain for months, the bush was a veritable tinderbox – with little fires popping up everywhere. Unfortunately, due to the dangerously dry conditions, a particular backburn undertaken on the mountain close to Fiona’s house began to burn out of control.

Fiona and her neighbours in Dargan, NSW were assured their house – despite this moving blaze – were ‘as protected as can be’.

Then the wind changed direction.

“A neighbour who had stayed called me about two hours after the fire front had passed to tell me, ‘Your house seems to have exploded’. With the firefighters fighting bigger blazes further away, Fiona and Angus had no other option but to wait at a safe distance and let it burn.

“We drove in to look at what was left – basically nothing. Just piles of rubble. I carefully climbed the pile of rubble to see if I could find anything. There was not much left.”

First contact with the Salvos

A day after the fire demolished her house, Fiona headed to an emergency centre in Lithgow, where she first had contact with the Salvos.

“The Salvos contacted us two or three weeks after we visited the centre and said they were giving out grants for $3000. They asked us what we needed. It was just phenomenal.”

Along with the financial help, the Salvos also supplied Fiona with food hampers, to tide them through the first few days after the fire. Says a very grateful Fiona, “If we needed any assistance, I think it was never too much trouble for them [the Salvos].”

In addition to assistance from the Salvos, Fiona also received support from some local organisations and communities with practical items like electrical appliances, bedsheets and towels.

But the help didn’t end there.

Six months after their initial contact, the Salvos called Fiona and Angus to offer additional financial assistance and check on their wellbeing, to ensure they were supported in their recovery journey. And keeping in line with their ‘Response – Recovery – Rebuild’ process, at the end of 2020 – as Christmas was approaching – the Salvos contacted the family again with further support.

“We were overwhelmed by the support we received,” says Fiona. “It’s great that they worked in a way that offered help for the long haul, and not just two weeks after the fires happened.

It makes you feel you haven’t been forgotten.”

The rebuild

Fiona and Angus used the financial support received from the Salvos towards the build costs of their house. As for the rebuild, Fiona says people often forget that rebuilding after a fire isn’t a straightforward process like building a house.

“It’s not just a house that needs rebuilding – there’s so much more that needs to be installed or done first,” says Fiona, “such as putting in new water tanks to replace ones that were melted, new power lines, new sewage systems. All the money that we received from the Salvos went into that.

We were absolutely shocked by the amount of help we received,” says Fiona. “I have friends who lost their houses and everything. They too were just amazed that they were helped. We were astounded by the amount of support we received.

Moving forward and looking back

Fiona and her family are slowly returning to a new normal. “I want to try [to] make this place more like home,” says Fiona, “Because the surrounding has changed completely after the fires.”

“We’re still gobsmacked at how much help was given to so many people, with huge amounts of money.” says Fiona, who is passionate about dispelling misconceptions about where donations go and letting people know that charities do help.

“Now when people say, ‘where’s all the money that was donated?’, I tell them ‘I know where it’s gone; It went to me and people like me who lost their houses and received help’.

People also don’t realise it’s not as simple as just handing someone affected some money. The continuing concern of how people are actually doing is what was helpful, especially with COVID-19, as it also isolated a lot of people who were already struggling.”

“The amount of support we got is just phenomenal. I’m amazed at the amount that’s still being offered to people, in terms of asking if they’re okay; and if they’re not, there’s still services available to help.”

Fiona is immensely grateful to all those who support and donate to the Salvos, and exclaims, “I never realised how much it helps when people give to these organisations. Donations do reach the people they are meant to reach. Anybody who thinks otherwise needs to know that’s not the case.

The donations are hugely appreciated and reach those truly affected. Your help won’t ever be forgotten.”