Lismore flood victim Eli Roth loses home to house fire

Heartbreak struck twice when Eli Roth lost the house he was renting this week to fire - bare months after his home was swept by flood. The devastated young family tell their story, and why they cling to hope.

Eli Roth and Jess Shields of Lismore at their house that burnt down on Monday.

A Lismore man ruined after the blackwater floods of February destroyed his home and contents has suffered another all but inconceivable tragedy when his rental home burnt down.

Eli Roth, an engraver at Mr Minit in Lismore and Ballina, and his partner Jess Shields, were just getting back on their feet and starting to feel safe when fire tore through their home in Lismore on Monday.

Mr Roth was at work in Ballina when he got the call the house was alight.

“Jess rang me in hysterics screaming ‘the house is burning down, the house is burning down!’” Mr Roth said.

“Jess was taking a nap and Jensen, her six-year-old son, came in and said ‘Mum, there’s a fire’.

“We had all the ‘we should have done this; we should have done thats’, and Jess tried putting it out. She got the dogs out.

Lismore man Eli Roth looks to see if any possessions can be salvaged from his home which burnt down on Monday. Picture: Supplied

“I was sitting in the gutter with four or five fire trucks around me thinking ‘You’re kidding me’.

“We’ve still got our cars – I guess I’m now waiting to be struck by lightning.”

Fire crews from Lismore and Goonellabah were called to the house on Ballina Road and Neilson Street about 6.15pm after reports of a house fire.

Thankfully, no one was injured in the blaze.

“We’re sleeping on my mum’s floor in South Lismore at the moment,” Mr Roth said, “not far from my (flood-hit) house on Union Street.”

The family is now going to move back into Mr Roth’s flood damaged house in South Lismore.

“It’s still missing windows and still missing walls but at least its somewhere to go,” he said.

“I’m so exhausted from the last eight months but the community is beautiful, everyone has stepped up to help us with storage sheds and donations.

“I know it’s all lovely but I’m still digging through ashes, today.”

Lismore local Eli Roth digs among the ashes searching for something to salvage from the rental in Lismore after it burnt down on Monday. Picture: Supplied

Help from the community - channelled through their friends - is comforting the young family and giving them space to deal with the fire.

“I still have a process,” Mr Roth said, “I am laughing at it, I mean like what the f**k. You want to go and feel safe again only to watch s**t burn down.”

The couple had not long moved in together as Ms Shields had secured a ‘rental on the hill’ and they were starting to build a semblance of a home from what they managed to salvage from the floods.

Lismore man Eli Roth clears mud and debris from a drain outside his house on March 29, 2022. Picture: Dan Peled

“We’ll get the dogs settled, do the family thing - so about a month ago we moved all the good stuff in ... so all the donations, all the expensive new stuff I’ve gathered along the last eight to nine months and under the house or upstairs is gone (from the fire),” Mr Roth said.

“I’ve said it before you can wash off your clothing after a flood, but you can’t wash fire off so I lost all this again.

“I’m getting about in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans at this point.

“I don’t know what I f**king did in a past life, karma, you can’t write this s**t.

“I had a lockbox of salvaged items I managed to put up higher with the floods and all the stuff I managed to put up higher in the floods is all burnt.

“All my photos, stuff I managed to save in a special spot for my kids.

“My Dad’s ashes – they’re in ashes.

“We lost two of our cats that burnt to death, and I had to carry those out.

“In February I already carried out my mother’s dead animals, I am sick of carrying out dead animals this year.”

The young family is receiving help and donations channelled through family and friends as they try to find a way forward.

“I just want to thank the community for everything,” Mr Roth said, “please if all donations can go through Rebecca as we’re still all traumatised, we’re not sleeping, we’re not eating that well, again, we’re just so tired, fatigued.”

Family friend Rebecca Ryan has set up a GoFundMe for the family.