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Bushfire Affected Our member lost his home

Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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Good afternoon everyone,

I'm posting this as I've been away for a while & after I explained why to Mrs Langtrees, I was encouraged to post a thread explaining what has happened.

Firstly I’d like to start with a little background on our situation.

3 years ago, my mother in law contacted us & asked if we would move into her house on the Far South Coast as she needed someone to look after her property due to her extensive commitments away from home. At the time I had just left the Navy & was finding it difficult to find work where we lived so we agreed & sold our house to clear our debts & moved down right away. My wife got a job at the local hospital & I stayed at the house & found purpose doing jobs & fixing things around the property as was my mother in laws wish, my pay was essentially free rent, electricity & water. During the next 3 years I also worked on my writing as I had stories that I just needed to tell. We bought a truck trailer to store most of our belongings in as the house was already furnished.
 
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Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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16 months ago a fire started nearby the property. To be safe, we packed the animals (2 dogs & 3 cats) into one of the cars & left. After all, without power we had no water pressure so staying & fighting was a foolish idea. The fire circled the house but thankfully did not touch it. The trailer storing most of our possessions was not so lucky. We then had a fight with the insurance company for 8 months while they argued that our stuff wasn’t covered because it wasn’t specifically listed on my mother in laws policy. After more arguments they agreed to pay a small sum, but nothing near what it was worth, but we took it as we were tired & just wanted it over with.
 
Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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My mother in law came home for Christmas/New Year & on December 31st 2019 we were once again under threat of fire, by this time we had moved anything that could have been salvaged from the last fire into the house but this time we were told to leave. So again we did. We spent the night at the evacuation center waiting for news that we never heard. The next day, we drove back home & it was still there. The fire hadn’t even come close, not a speck of burnt or singed ground to be seen. But then the mass exodus began, everyone was told to leave if they didn’t need to be there & we were told once again, to be ready to leave as Saturday the 4th of January was going to be hell.
 
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Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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Once again, without power or generators, we left. Then on the evening of Saturday the 4th I received a phone call from the police. “The fire got close to the house but it survived.” We were so elated. The next day we drove back home & what we saw, nothing could have prepared us for. The police had got it wrong. They had called the wrong person about the surviving house because there was quite obviously nothing left of where we had once lived. Everything was gone. Devastated, we walked around the blackened property, the garage that housed my 1977 C3 Corvette, collapsed, the Corvette was a burnt out shell, the chickens we all dead. Through what was left of the window to our bedroom you could see, nothing but ash. The fire was so hot that it melted the 22000 litre water tank too nothing but a puddle of plastic on the ground, and it was filled with water.
First Appearence.jpg
 
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Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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Fast forward to today, we sit in a small 3 room (not 3 bedroom, actually 3 rooms) cottage with 2 dogs and 3 cats, having spent weeks remembering the small things we’ve lost that meant so much, photos, gifts from grandparents, just the smallest things reducing us to a blubbering mess, my wife made me a chess board for my 35th birthday last year, I was a total inconsolable mess for hours after I remembered that.
C3 Corvette.jpg Current State.jpeg LoungeDining Room.jpg
 
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Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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Every day is difficult as we try to figure out what we do next. But we keep having people offering us help. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done right now, we just wait for the insurance to say something, that way we might be able to move forward. My mother in law is doing fine, she’s back in Sydney, she has an apartment there for her work. She was in tears the other day though, she said, “if I didn’t ask us to move down, you’d still have all of your stuff.” Knowing how stubborn my Mother in law is, she wouldn’t have left the house when told to leave, so my response to her was, “if we didn’t move down, you would most likely would have died in that fire, if we traded everything we own for your life it was worth it” of course that made her cry even more. Apparently, that made her happy but it’s honestly hard to tell happy and sad crying at the moment.
 
T

Tania Admin

Jason Todd said:
Fast forward to today, we sit in a small 3 room (not 3 bedroom, actually 3 rooms) cottage behind the CWA hall in Bega with 2 dogs and 3 cats, we have to use the kitchen & bathroom in the hall, having spent weeks remembering the small things we’ve lost that meant so much, photos, gifts from grandparents, just the smallest things reducing us to a blubbering mess, my wife made me a chess board for my 35th birthday last year, I was a total inconsolable mess for hours after I remembered that. The Red Cross, they would only give out a grant to my mother in law because it was her house & not ours. The Salvos said the same thing, “you didn’t own the property, you’re not entitled to financial assistance.” Department of Human Services came through with 1000 bucks for each of us, but that doesn’t go too far these days when you have to buy clothes.
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What an awful ordeal to go through.
I wouldn't wish that on any one.

I know this is hard, but what are your plans for now?
Will your MIL rebuild and you live there?
Is there any time estimate on her insurance?

If we raise money what is it you are looking at using it for, priority wise?

I really am sorry if I'm asking to many questions. And I don't doubt for one moment that you are suffering. Just wrapping my head around it.

I really don't intend to upset you in any way.

I'm also sure even though you did not own the property that you are entitled to more Government Assistance than that. Sadly they make people find the entitlements and aren't so forthcoming as to what is available from our Natural Disaster Funds.😔
 
Mrs Langtrees

Mrs Langtrees

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Hi jason thanks for the story to date I think it will be really special to see first hand how a bushfire effects people. As a community and a forum we are going to do a hat around the members and raise some funds for Jason and his wife to get their lives back together. I think it would be great if Jason can add a map and mark the general area he was in. I have asked that in telling his story he maintain his and his families privacy, but he has given me all the details needed to verify the worthness of this family so our forum family can come together and help out a little.
We need to know what sort of work jason could do and if his car and transport sysem survivived because if we put out the message I am sure one of us will have the right contact to get him a little ahead in the job queue.
I notice you write well Jason.. have you ever done blogs?
 
Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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You are all so lovely

To answer the questions, yes we managed to save one car. So at least my wife can get to work.
The rebuild is going to take a long time, there are over 300 houses that need rebuilding down here because of this fire plus another 30 or so houses that are still yet to be rebuilt after the Tathra fire 2 years ago. The insurance said that it could be up to 2 months before we see anything due to the amount of claims across NSW & the size of the property.

We have been trying to get money together for a deposit to buy a house down here. The insurance for the Corvette payed out fast but so far we're still a bit off. Renting causes problems because of the animals which is why we wanted to buy.

As for my job, I will have to retrain. I mentioned that I was writing, I had two novels (mostly) written & one children's book (none of them published) but I never actually advanced with technology so they were all stored on the PC at home. Which I left behind. Looks like I may have to start over. I haven't ever written any blogs. But thank you for the comment about my writing.

Sorry if I forgot any questions
 
Jason Todd

Jason Todd

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Mrs Langtrees said:
Blog writing can be quite profitable do a little research I think Australian price would be around $100 for 500 words and 3 key words inserted maybe a job u can do from home I’m up for 2 a week🦋
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I never considered blog writing, but I'm going to seriously look into it. Thank you for giving me that idea.

We had to buy a small bar fridge yesterday as the cost of ice for the esky was getting out of hand. We also bought a mattress topper because more than 2 weeks sleeping on an inflatable mattress really takes its toll on your back. It's amazing how those two fairly small things have picked up our spirits.
 
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