Leopold family’s home destroyed after ‘horrific’ fire

A Leopold single mum has detailed the moment she learned she and her three kids had been left without a home after it went up in flames.

A Leopold family have been left homeless after their unit went up in flames. Picture: Supplied

A Leopold single mum and her three children have been left without a home after their unit went up in flames.

Maddie Gore was away camping with her three children and extended family for the school holidays when a fire tore through their Recreation Dr home on Saturday, April 6.

The family arrived back in Geelong on Wednesday to find their home, where they lived for almost 10 years, had been destroyed.

“My entire house, from one side to the other, has been completely and totally obliterated,” she said.

Maddie Gore with her children Tobi, 13, Jaxx, 9, and Asha, 6. Picture: Supplied

Ms Gore was sleeping in a tent with her youngest son on the morning of the fire when her mother woke her up to tell her the “horrific” news.

“It was such a shock,” she said.

“I felt everything and nothing all at once and I still do.

“You know when you go away and you get that feeling that you’re ready to go home?

“That’s when it hit me we don’t have a place to go home to.”

Ms Gore said she started “bawling” when she was driving up to the home on Wednesday and saw the roof had collapsed.

“I can’t even comprehend a few days ago I was cleaning the house, preparing to go away,” she said.

“Everything we have fits into a trailer … it’s all gone.”

Ms Gore said the family had lost precious belongings including her children’s baby items.

“Every year, I would buy my kids a special book,” she said.

“I would write them letters in the front.

“Thirteen years of letters to my boys that I thought they would keep forever are gone.”

Ms Gore’s home was destroyed in the blaze. Picture: Supplied

The family were away camping at the time of the fire. Picture: Supplied

Ms Gore said many of her children’s friends would regularly gather at their home.

“The house backed onto the oval so I had kids at my house all the time,” she said.

“When the footy was on, there would be 13 kids on my trampoline.

“It felt like a real community house.”

A Go Fund Me was set up to help support the family while they rebuild their lives.

The fundraiser has garnered more than $15,000 in donations.

“I don’t know how to thank everybody,” Ms Gore said.

“This community, the messages I’m reading, the donations (we’ve received) are holding me together.

“It’s giving hope to my kids (and) it’s going to help us rebuild our lives.”

Police arrested a 32-year-old man at the scene of the blaze but he was released pending further enquiries.

To donate, head to gofundme.com/help-us-rebuild-after-our-great-loss.

Originally published as Leopold family’s home destroyed after ‘horrific’ fire