Jennifer Pittorino
On Thursday, April 27, The McManus family were alerted that their beloved house in Maidstone had caught on fire.
None of the McManus family were inside the house at the time of the fire, both Tarin and his wife Hannah were at work and their 11-year-old son Griffin was at school.
At this stage abuilding assessor has reported that the house will need to be rebuilt, with all contents inside the house unable to be recovered.
The fire investigators are currently unsure of what caused the blaze but they believe it started in the early hours of the morning and slowly burned throughout the day.
A close friend of the family, Anthea Nelson created a GoFundMe for the McManus family to get them back on their feet while they stay at Quest Maribyrnong.
“Anthea, Brendan and Zoyee along with other friends have been amazing, helping clear debris and cooking for us,” said Hannah.
After only one week the GoFundMe has reached its goal, with more people donating everyday.
“Anthea started the fundraiser of her own volition, we were in shock,” she said.
The McManus family have been active members of their community, helping others when the floods struck.
“Griffin did not understand why we were helping strangers, I said these people have lost everything , if this ever happened to us our community would help us too and they have,” she said.
Other community groups that have helped the family are Roosters Football Club, Rustica Cafe and Bailey Nelson.
Highpoint Mowers and Chainsaws have also helped Tarin keep his small gardening business in West Footscray ‘Thyme after Thyme’ trading during this time.
“We are so grateful to everyone for their support as we start our recovery, we love our community,” she said.
Details: www.gofundme.com/f/tragic-housefire-left-our-friends-with-nothing
