GoFundMe launches for Backhouse family after Lower Wonga house fire

The family of a popular couple influential in Australia’s horsing and cattle industry whose home was destroyed in a devastating fire, have spoken about the extraordinary efforts to try to save the rural property.

The daughter of a Gympie region couple has spoken of the heartbreaking destruction of her parents’ home in an inferno on Saturday, including the extraordinary efforts of her mother to try and save the house.

Natasha Humphries said the devastating blaze which gutted Carol and Warren ‘Wazz’ Backhouse’s beautifully renovated “dream home” on Abel Rd at Lower Wonga, about 25km west of Gympie, on Sunday

Speaking on Wednesday, Mrs Humphries said her mother was riding back from a barn on the property for lunch when she saw smoke billowing from the house.

Mrs Humphries said her father and sister, Ashleigh, were in Melbourne at the Equitana Masters Reining Competition at the time of the fire.

She said despite the black smoke her mother “got in there with cups of water” and then extinguishers to try and douse the flames, to no avail.

Natasha Humphries said the devastating blaze which gutted her parents Carol and Warren “Wazza” Backhouse’s beautifully renovated “dream home” at Lower Wonga about midday Sunday.

Mrs Humphries, who lives at Kandanga, called triple-0 after hearing about the fire from her sister, and, after alerting the rest of the family who all lived across the Gympie region, rushed to the property which was about an hour away.

She arrived to find the home “up in flames”.

The family watched as what seemed like an army of firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control, with little to be done but consoling her mother who was “beside herself”.

The house could not be saved.

On Tuesday a Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said the cause of the blaze was likely not able to be determined due to the extensive damage caused.

On Tuesday a Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said the cause of the blaze was likely not able to be determined due to the extensive damage caused.

Mrs Humphries said it may have been sparked by an electrical fault.

The Backhouses had only owned the home for two years.

It was insured. but “every childhood memory” had been destroyed in the fire, including photos of Mrs Humphries and her four siblings, and all the family’s memories of Mrs Backhouse’s father (Mrs Humphries’ grandfather) who died only a year earlier.

Also among the possessions lost were more than 500 buckles from horse and cattle competitions the family had been involved in both nationally and internationally, along with three trophy saddles.

Natasha Humphries said the Loewr Wonga property was her parents “dream home” and purchased in 2022.

Mrs Humphries said the community response in the wake of the fire was “amazing”.

A GoFundMe launched by Gita Thomas, on behalf of Reining Australia, had raised more than $30,000 for the Backhouses less than a day after it was launched.

Mrs Humphries said “incredibly selfless” people had been turning up to offer items including white goods and clothing as well.

Members of the reining and cattle industries who knew the Backhouses have been running their own fundraisers to help, too.

She said this helped “take the pressure of mum and dad” as they came to grips with what happened.

The plan was for her parents to eventually rebuild on the site.

“They finally got the chance to move to their dream property,” Mrs Humphries said.

Originally published as GoFundMe launches for Backhouse family after Lower Wonga house fire