Bolwarra mother recalls harrowing escape from house fire in middle of the night

The Bolwarra mother said the smell was "plastic-y" and when she opened her eyes, she noticed a glow on the back fence.

That's when she realised her house was on fire.

Ms Shaw and her two children Molly, 16, and Anthony 14, fled their Pumpa Street home with nothing but the clothes they were wearing on August 18, 2023.

They lost everything, including 110-year-old family heirlooms, and their two cats, Buddy and Xena, as well as three budgies and some fish which perished in the blaze.

Ms Shaw said as they fled the house, the electricity went off, leaving them in the pitch black in the middle of the night.

"By the time we got out, it was too late, everything was gone," she said.

Fire investigators went to the house late on August 18 with the cause of the fire believed to be an electrical fault.

Ms Shaw said she was numb as she watched her house go up in flames.

"I was in complete shock, I didn't really know what I was thinking but I was just so glad we got out safe," she said.

It wasn't until the days after the blaze, when she returned to the house she'd lived in for 15 years, that she realised the devastation left behind.

"My whole life was in that house," Ms Shaw said.

"I had all my mother and grandmother's jewellery in there... and so many photos.

"Then you realise all the small things that we had lost - my prescription glasses that took two weeks to get (new ones), all of my diabetic medication, our birth certificates."

Ms Shaw and the kids were put up in emergency accommodation for seven days and are now living temporarily at a caravan park.

She said it could be six to 12 months before they go back on their feet and found a house to rent amid the Portland region's housing crisis.

She said the fire had also brought back painful memories of losing the father of her first child in a fire nearly 20 years ago.

Ms Shaw said it had been a difficult few weeks but she was grateful to have her family by her side.

"It was a miracle. 10 to 15 minutes later and we could all have had funerals," she said.

"I appreciate life so much more even though I have nothing. I can slowly rebuild and get my life and everything back together, but if you lose your family, you've lost yourself."

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family get back on their feet.

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