De Reus family left with nothing after fire destroys ‘dream home’

A young Loch family was left with nothing when their first home burnt to the ground this month. Read how you can help.

The De Reus family were out of the house on April 1 when they got the call in the early afternoon that changed their lives.Â

A Loch family was left with nothing but the clothes on their backs after their home was destroyed by a devastating fire this month.

The De Reus family were out of the house when they received a lifechanging call in the early afternoon of April 1.

April De Reus and her husband Beau were both at work - April at her small business and Beau at his earthmoving job - while their three young children were spending the day with their grandparents.

Ms De Reus initially didn’t believe what she was being told.

“We both came home and our whole house was on fire. We were still thinking it was a very terrible dream,” she said.

“There was nothing we could do but stand on the nature strip and let the CFA work.”

The De Reus family has been left with nothing

Ms De Reus said watching her family’s “dream home” and everything within it burn was “gut wrenching”.

“It was just an unbelievable, terrifying sight to see your whole life just up in flames,” she said.

“We just left for work in the morning and came home to nothing in the afternoon.

“It is a gut wrenching feeling.”

Nothing from the family’s first home - that they had built just four years ago and had made many memories in with their children - could be saved.

One of the children’s bedrooms after the fire.

Ms De Reus said trying to explain to her three children, aged two, six and 10, that all of their belongings were gone was “impossible”.

“To make that phone call to them to say there is no home to come home to and trying to explain it to a child is impossible,” she said.

To make a tragic situation even worse, the De Reus family hadn’t realised their home insurance had lapsed, leaving them with no safety net to rebuild.

“We were just sitting there waiting for the email to come through. You know, just like your rego comes in. You don’t really think about these things. You just wait for the bill to come in, and it never did,” she said.

The De Reus children aged 10, 6 and 2 the day before the fire.

She said the community had been “amazing” in their support, which had meant they could stay in the community.

“We are so very grateful to be living in a town like this. The whole town has pitched in and we have a temporary accommodation that was offered to us the next morning, which is unbelievable,” she said.

“Then, as the house was empty, the whole town has pitched in to furnish the house [with everything] from beds to socks, and they did that within a matter of hours.”

Ms De Reus said it had been “mind numbing” to process all the challenges ahead but she was grateful her family was unharmed.

“We’re just holding onto each other at the moment and every day is a new day. It’s not necessarily easier but we’re okay - everything else we can rebuild,” she said.

“We just need help to rebuild it.”

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

If you’d like to help the De Reus family you can do so here.