General News
22 June, 2023
Talbot rallies after house fire
Last Saturday night was no different to any other winter evening in the tiny town of Talbot. It was cold and wet, with locals hoping the pelting rain would ease for the farmers’ market the next day. Patrons entering the local pub headed straight...
Last Saturday night was no different to any other winter evening in the tiny town of Talbot.
It was cold and wet, with locals hoping the pelting rain would ease for the farmers’ market the next day.
Patrons entering the local pub headed straight to the wood fire to warm up, and a new food van outside the post office was doing a roaring trade.
Christine and Howard Mulvey were getting ready for a quiet night. Both volunteers at the local market, they were preparing to rise before dawn the next day. It was just after 5 pm when there was a frantic banging on the door accompanied by screaming.
“I opened the door and there was our neighbour, Eliza, from across the road with a little tiny baby in her arms,” Christine said.
“She was on the phone to Triple 0 and pushed the baby into my arms as she yelled, ‘our house is on fire, our house is on fire’.”
Christine and Howard looked across the road and could see flames leaping from the back of the house. Howard raced across to help Eliza’s partner, Brandon, who had re-entered the house and was closing the internal doors. The two men put the couple’s dogs into Brandon’s car and drove it away from the house, and had to smash a window on another car as they couldn’t find the keys.
“Brandon got in the car and the steering lock was on, so he put it in neutral and we pushed the car in a straight line as far away from the house as we could,” Howard said.
Howard had been a volunteer firefighter in Tasmania for 35 years, and said he felt useless as he watched the fire take hold and waited for the fire brigade to arrive.
“It seemed like forever before they got there but it was only six or seven minutes. They were just absolutely amazing,” Christine said.
Captain of the Talbot Fire Brigade, Ross Andrews, lives outside of Talbot and when the emergency notification came through, looked towards town and realised this was a serious house fire.
“I could see black smoke billowing and straight away I thought ‘this house is well and truly involved’,” he said.
“By the time I got there the back room was virtually sitting on the ground. The fire had spread to the back two rooms of the house and penetrated up into the ceiling and went from the back to the front.
“We managed to stop one building fire turning into two building fires. Once Carisbrook and Maryborough brigades arrived, we had more resources, so it was safe to commence internal attack until the fire was contained.”
Captain Andrews said it appeared the fire was started by rodents chewing through internal wiring at the back of the house.
The young family had escaped with only the clothes they were wearing. Christine and Howard found jackets and jumpers for them and, when the fire was contained, the firefighters tried to salvage what they could for the baby.
“They went into the house and got a pram and bassinet and a baby bath,” Christine said.
“The pram and bassinet stank and were beyond saving, so Howard gave the baby bath a good clean. I got some blankets and cut them up and put them in the baby bath and that’s what Eliza had for baby Parker. Two of the fireys went to Maryborough and got a baby bottle, some formula and some nappies.
“There were cups of tea in the hall for the brigade and he went to the post office van and got hamburgers — no one had even thought about dinner. Greg McNeilly organised accommodation that night at the Court House Hotel. It was probably about 9 pm and it was raining and raining when we bundled them up and settled them at the pub.”
It was about 10 pm that night when Christine posted on the local Facebook group asking for donations for the baby. She was amazed as people started arriving from as far away as Ballarat, Creswick, Avoca and Maryborough dropping off clothes, dog food and household items.
Since then, the couple have been inundated with offers of help. As Christine said, they are so appreciative and overwhelmed by the generosity of strangers and have asked Christine to convey how grateful they are for the support they have received.
Eliza and Brandon had lived in their Talbot home for 18 months. They rented the cottage soon after it was renovated, and had just recently brought their new baby daughter home from hospital after she was born nine weeks premature. Although Christine and Howard had seen their neighbours to nod and wave to, until Saturday night, they had not really met.
“Eliza just keeps saying how wonderful everyone has been since this happened,” Christine said.
“It was a tragedy but the positives that have come out of it is they have been so well cared for and looked after — what a way to meet your neighbours.”