Lower Barrington house fire: Bec Wealands shares story

“We were in the middle of opening Christmas presents when I got a phone call and my face went grey”: A North-West Tasmanian family have been devastated but buoyed by the community.

Christmas morning blaze that destroyed a Tasmanian family’s home. Picture: GoFundMe

“We were... in the middle of opening Christmas presents when I got a phone call and my face went grey.”

“We were... in the middle of opening Christmas presents when I got a phone call and my face went grey.”

So says Lower Barrington woman Bec Wealands, whose Sheffield Rd house, which she has shared with partner Natasha Marie and their seven children, some biological, some foster, for the past decade was destroyed by fire on Christmas.

The house is uninhabitable – Tasmania Fire Service estimate the damage to have been $300,000. Investigators believe the fire was accidental. Ms Wealands said she was informed it was an electrical fault near the front door.

The day had started like any other Christmas – a happy family occasion. But the laughter lasted no later than late morning.

Lower Barrington couple Natasha Marie and Bec Wealands, alongside their six children (a seventh lives independently) lost their Sheffield Rd home of 10 years to fire on Christmas Day. Picture: Facebook

“At 10.20am, we left for Christmas lunch. At 11am our house was gone,” she said.

It was her father, who lives on the property in a detached cottage with Ms Wealands’ mother, who raised the alarm.

“They saw some smoke and knew no-one was home. Dad ran down to go look and put on the garden hose tried to put it out,” Ms Wealands said. But the fire was already too engaged. Ms Wealands received a call from her mum.

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“We were at the in-laws in the middle of opening presents when I got a phone call and my face went grey. Everyone thought someone had died. Natasha and I raced back, we were only 11 minutes away. The whole thing was ablaze,” Ms Wealands said.

“Natasha and I were in shock. We had to look for our cats, we found them many hours later with singed paws.. Our dogs were fine too, they were outside.”

Ms Wealands labelled the firefighters who help try and save her home as “heroes”, revealing two of them were subsequently hospitalised for smoke inhalation.

She further encouraged the community to have fire plans in place and share them with their children – three of her and Natasha’s children are fire cadets.

“I urge everyone to have fire plan and make sure their kids are incredibly aware of the plan,” Ms Wealands said.

“If the fire had’ve happened at night, three kids would have been trapped and needing to exit via the window, the other three (their eldest lives independently) would have needed to be ferried out the back door.”

Her greatest praise was reserved for her friends in the community – a fundraiser has raised nearly $9000 at the time of writing, while a friend has allowed the family to relocate into a four-bedroom rental free of charge.

“We’ve had a phenomenal outpouring of generosity from the community,” she said.

Despite their travails, the family is determined to lean in to the challenge of their new circumstances.

“We’re just looking forward, that’s all we can do. No-one was hurt and no-one died. The children have the narrative that this is just a new adventure for the entire family,” she said.

FAMILY OF EIGHT LOSE ‘HOME AND EVERYTHING IN IT’

A family of eight, two adults and six children, have lost their “home and everything in it” as a result of an accidental blaze at Lower Barrington.

A Tasmania Fire Service spokesman said the call for help came at 10.55am on Christmas Day, with the first crews arriving at 11.11am. Crews from Devonport, Sheffield and Melrose battled the blaze.

The fire was “going well” when emergency services arrived, with TFS officers having to don breathing apparatuses.

The fire was under control by 12.55pm.

Christmas morning blaze that destroyed a Tasmanian family’s home. Picture: GoFundMe

The TFS spokesman said damage was estimated at $300,000. Investigators have determined the fire to be accidental. No further information was available about the nature of the accident.

Sheffield Fire Brigade took to social media seeking help for the family in the wake of the tragedy.

“Unfortunately this Christmas morning, one of our local families has lost their home to fire,” the post read.

“They have nowhere to go. This is a family of two adults and six children. Any help would be greatly appreciated with this awful event, as they have lost their home and everything in it on Christmas morning.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by an extended family member in an effort to help the family affected by the blaze begin to rebuild their lives.

To make a donation click here.

Originally published as Lower Barrington house fire: Bec Wealands shares story