Ipswich mum’s heartbreak as house fire destroys new home, daughters medical supplies

An Ipswich family is devastated after a fire tore through their new home, destroying medical supplies they had just saved up to buy.

Lani and Rosalie Tobler with assistance dog Ruby. Picture: Supplied/Lani Tobler

A single mum has shared her devastation after a house fire tore through her epileptic daughter’s lifesaving medical equipment, just months after they finally saved enough money to buy it.

Less than two months after moving into her new Eastern Heights home Lani Tobler woke in the middle of the night to see flames.

The fire started in the front room of the Ipswich house, used as her eight-year-old daughter Rosalie’s toy room.

Ms Tobler, Rosalie and medical assistance dog Ruby were all sleeping in the neighbouring room when she woke to the sound of smoke alarms about 2am.

“I didn’t think for a second that it could have been an actual fire,” Ms Tobler said.

“I just thought that they were just going off so I was cranky about it, I was like ‘here we go, they’re going off again’.

“And I found a fire instead.”

Lani Tobler's Eastern Heights, Ipswich, home burned down on Saturday, October 7. Picture: Supplied/Lani Tobler

Ms Tobler said she woke Rosalie immediately and got her and Ruby out of the house.

“They were all terrified,” she said.

“The fire was between the front door and us. By the time we got to the back door – it would have only been a matter of minutes – the whole house was full of smoke.”

Earlier this year Ms Tobler started a GoFundMe to help cover Rosalie’s medical bills.

At the time, she told The Queensland Times the money would help them buy lifesaving medical aids, including an anti-suffocation pillow and a seizure-monitoring camera.

Rosalie Tobler with assistance dog Ruby. Picture: Supplied/Lani Tobler

Since then, Ms Tobler said they’d been able to buy the equipment they needed but it was now all destroyed.

“It’s all gone,” Ms Tobler said.

“Whatever wasn’t touched by flame was melted or warped because of how hot the house got and whatever wasn’t melted or warped was destroyed by smoke.”

Ms Tobler said a firefighter told her the blaze was very quick because of the house’s age and said it was caused by an electrical fault.

They were now living with family in Ipswich and working with their real estate agent to find a new home.

But Ms Tobler said she expected the process to be difficult, given the current housing market.

Lani Tobler's Eastern Heights, Ipswich, home burned down on Saturday, October 7. Picture: Supplied/Lani Tobler

Ms Tobler said she and Rosalie were struggling to return to a sense of normalcy.

Rosalie returned to school only last week after being homeschooled while battling her medical issues.

After the fire, Rosalie insisted on attending school but Ms Tobler said she was still struggling with the sudden loss of so many belongings.

“Even though we know that we’ve lost everything, you don’t fully understand what everything is,” Ms Tobler said.

“It’s those little things that you’re so used to having … (Rosalie) will say to me ‘mum can I play with my Harry Potter Barbies’ and she realises they’re gone.”

“It’s really hard for me to deal with as an adult, but for an eight-year-old it’s next level – especially with everything that she’s had to go through.”

Ms Tobler said she had received “so much kindness” from the community since the fire, with offers to donate clothes and toys.

As she has nowhere to store donations she asked for contributions to her original GoFundMe.

“Thank you will never be enough, but I hope you all realise the true difference you made in a devastating and terrifying situation,” she posted on Facebook.