Community rallies around family after shock fire leaves them homeless

More than $15,000 has been raised for a family left homeless after a fire destroyed their house while they were sleeping.

Lisa and Georgia Walker, who lost their Kalkallo home in a fire last week

The only warning Lisa Walker had that her house was on fire was a loud cracking sound that woke her up.

At first, she thought someone was trying to break in.

“I walked down the hallway and through the cracks in the timber feature wall I could see that my roof was glowing red,” the Kalkallo woman said.

“I‘m very lucky I’m a very light sleeper because things might have turned out a bit differently.”

The remains of the Walker family's Kalkallo house after a fire left them homeless last week.

The blaze destroyed almost everything in less than 10 minutes, leaving the family with little more than the clothes on their backs and a few small items.

The Kalkallo family has lived in the house for 23 years. Ms Walker, who works at Vic Roads, said that the loss went far deeper than the loss of property.

“Both of my kids were born and raised in this home. So I haven‘t just lost … the home itself. I’ve lost a lot of memories. Every moment has been captured in my family home here,” she said.

A community fund raiser has shocked the family, with more than $15,000 raised.

Ms Walker said she had two smoke alarms in her house, but one was out of batteries and the other never went off.

“My 18-year-old son and his girlfriend were sound asleep,” Ms Walker recalled.

“I bashed on the door, woke them up, and told them that the house was on fire that we needed to get out. And then went to my room because I‘ve got a 10-week-old puppy who was crate training.”

Although firefighters arrived within eight minutes, the house was damaged beyond repair. “Anything … that’s not burnt is smoke damaged or water damaged.” Ms Walker said.

Ms Walker believes the fire started in the roof when embers escaped through a crack in the chimney and ignited.

The fire started in the roof and destroyed the property.

Rachael Gillion, a colleague of Ms Walker’s daughter Georgie at Newbury Primary School where she works, organised a GoFundMe fundraiser.

Ms Gillion says that the response from the local community was amazing.

“I thought if everyone could just give even 10 bucks, 20 bucks, it‘s better than nothing. And then when we started sharing with the community, I was really surprised because … There are a lot of people that are forfeiting two weeks wages at the moment. It still didn’t stop them and we’ve got donations from $10 all the way to $1000,” Ms Gillion said.

Within three days the fundraiser had raised more than $10,000.

“It‘s just amazing and it still brings me to tears to think about the support we’ve received,” Ms Walker said.

Other friends of the family have raised money as well.