A Canning Vale family’s Christmas nightmare has turned into pure joy thanks to the overwhelming generosity of Canning Vale and Maddington firefighters.
On October 30, firefighters were called to a house fire in Carlton Loop, with the front room of the Das family’s home completely engulfed in flames, with the blaze blowing out windows and quickly moving into the roof space.
Station officer of Canning Vale’s A brigade, Troy Anglesey, was one of the first on the scene.
He said they managed to contain the fire relatively quickly, within an hour, and save most of the home, however the fire – believed to have been caused by a lithium-ion battery – destroyed the front room and left the home with extensive smoke damage.
The damage forced the Das family – Mum and Dad Sarah and Colin, and sons Jobe, 6, Luke, 4 and Jesse, 1, – to stay with Colin’s parents, who also live locally.
Knowing the family were forced out of their home in the lead-up to Christmas, Mr Anglesey called on a little-known fund to make the boys’ Christmas just that little bit merrier.
“It’s called the burnt-out grant,” he said.
“It’s all funded by the firefighters themselves, it’s not funded by the brigade or DFES or anything like that, it’s our own money that goes into the pot and any kid that is disadvantaged by fire or impacted by fire, we give them a grant of $500 each.
“In this instance, the family is getting $500 for each child because to lose your home in the months before Christmas, it’s just devastating.
“So on Tuesday we made the presentation to the family from the Canning Vale and Maddington stations.
“The parents are over the moon the kids are getting that support and Christmas is looking good again.
“It’s an honour to give this back to the community, especially because it’s a contribution from all the firefighters in the service.”
Mr Anglesey said the fund wasn’t particularly well-known, because if you know about it, chances are you’ve been impacted by fire.
But for Sarah, it’s been a godsend.
Having just got the keys for a new rental in Canning Vale, she’s looking forward to having a normal Christmas, despite the devastation caused by the fire, and said the support shown by the firefighters – and the wider community – had been overwhelming.
“The boys were so excited today, and it’s just fantastic that the firefighters have done this,” she said.
“It’s been a really stressful time and things like this, and the support from the community in terms of food and money, all those small things, it’s just great.
“Obviously Jesse doesn’t understand what’s happening but Jobe and Luke have seen the house so they understand.
“This will make sure they have a merry Christmas.”
