A FAMILY of six has watched their house burn down just weeks out from Christmas.
Latisha Simon and her children aged between four and 14 have lived in their rental home on Raymond Street Telarah for several years. On Tuesday everything changed when just after 4pm, the children were playing in the backyard and one of them found a cigarette lighter and accidentally started a fire.
"The kids ran in screaming 'there's a fire in the backyard'," Ms Simon said.
"So I ran out to check and it was already spread through the yard."
The Hunter mother grabbed the children and ran out to the front yard, doing a head count as they went. By the time she turned around to look back at the house it was already in flames.
About 30 firefighters and eight trucks raced to the scene. Three neighbouring properties were also evacuated, as fire crews worked for more than an hour to stop the flames from spreading to nearby homes. The blaze was extinguished about 6.30pm but the home and all of the family's possessions were destroyed.
"I turned this house into a home," she said.
"This breaks our heart even more that the house where they was suppose to be having Christmas at this year as a family is now gone to ashes. For this to even happen a few weeks away from Christmas, I don't even know where to start."
Fire and Rescue NSW duty commander for Lower Hunter Roger Whight said initial investigations suggest the lighter ignited a mattress in the yard and turbo-charged the fire.
"This reinforces the message firefighters want to put out to parents and carers about educating children on the risk of fire and not leaving matches and lighters lying around where young people can get their hands on them," he said.
"People did the right thing once there was a fire, they rang Triple-0, they got out and they stayed out.
"Get out and stay out is our big message."
Sister of the homeowner, Tailea Simon, took to social media to launch a GoFundMe campaign on Tuesday night and the community has already come to their aid donating money, clothes, and items for the children.
One piece the family is hoping to replace is their game console.
"My son lost his PlayStation in the fire and he is absolutely heartbroken as this was his comfort zone," Ms Simon explained.
"It's amazing how the community is coming together to help, I am so grateful for all the help, for now it's going to be another long road ahead."
It follows an incident earlier this year where the family's car was stolen and dumped.
Anyone wishing to help the family can visit the fundraising page online and contact Ms Simon's sister via the GoFundMe page.
