A Canterbury family’s been left with nothing but the clothes on their back after their house caught fire on Boxing Day.
The family were enjoying time outside on their six-acre lifestyle property, when they heard the smoke alarms blaring and thick black smoke billowing out of the house around 530pm.
The Burnham property owned by a veteran rural firefighter, Jessie Jones and his wife, who have four children under the age of 10.
It’s been confirmed the cause of the blaze was an electrical fault in the laundry.
The Jones’ returned to the property today to find nothing could be salvaged.
Through tears, the couple told 1 News it has been devastating, particularly for the kids who’ve lost all their belongings, including Christmas gifts.
“We’ve lost everything, everything’s gone…all the things you can’t replace like photos, paintings, kids’ artwork and school projects,” said Jessie Jones.
Fortunately, the kids aged six, five and two were all outside when the fire broke out.
Mother Jo Jones said it’s been a massive wake up call, as she’d usually have left her youngest Isaiah inside to have an afternoon nap.
“I’ll stay inside and drink coffee or whatever but I won’t leave the house because in nine minutes your life could be over,” she said.
Jessie Jones has nearly a decade’s experience as a volunteer fireman in the area, helping other families through tough times.
“we are a brother-hood, we look after each other like brothers,” said Lloyd Clausen, Leeston’s Chief Fire Officer.
The family say they’re fortunate they have insurance and have been overwhelmed by the support in the last 24 hours from people all around the country.
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