A plea for help to State MP Adam Marshall, his federal counterpart Mark Coulton, NSW Police, Moree Plains Shire Council – In fact anyone who might listen – from Boggabilla residents.
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Enough is, enough!
A family has been forced to flea their burning home in Boggabilla on Wednesday morning.
Witnesses said all they managed to grab was a TV.
“But at least they are alive,” neighbour Leslie Bowler said.
She and her pet dog Zsa Zsa had raced outside to see a “sheet of flame”.
“I didn’t want to get out of bed, it was a bit chilly this morning, but Zsa Zsa was barking...
“How many were in the home,” we asked.
“I’m not sure but they don’t have a home now,” she said.
It’s a scene the 72 year-old Boggabilla resident has seen too often over the past 11 years.
Sadly, she’s a veteran.
“Hope the fire brigade is careful, they often burst back on fire.”
Almost on queue, it did, and she was quick to grab a hose and spray the flames while waiting for the fire brigade to return.
She’s seen it all too often.
The pensioner moved to Boggabilla 11 years ago and bought her Merriwa-Street home.
“It was all I could afford but I thought I could make a home of it.”
And she has.
One that has been broken into three times, almost four.
“Someone tried to bash my front door down a few weeks ago.”
Her car has been broken into three times.
The house is deadlocked.
There are metal screens on the windows.
A thief once cut his way into the house because he couldn’t get through the doors.
Mrs Bowler was in bed. Zsa Zsa raised the alarm and the thief fled.
“She was only four,” her proud owner said.
She’s matter-of-fact about it all.
Although she wonders, “I sometimes think, ‘what would I do with all those deadlocks if the house caught on fire?’”. So do we.
I sometimes think, ‘what would I do with all those deadlocks if the house caught on fire?
- Boggabilla resident Leslie Bowler
North Star resident Teak Andrews stopped while we were there to see if Mrs Bowler was safe and well.
They knew each other because Teak recently lived in the house which was now a smoking skeleton.
She still has items in the backyard shed.
But it’s what she still had in the front of the house which almost causes Teak to shed a tear.
“There were some computers and other stuff, old photos.”
“Family?,” we asked innocently.
“Ye.. yes,” she said.
“Ones of my daughter especially….”
The following silence told us all we needed to know.
Teak lost her 16 year-old daughter in a shooting accident in Mungindi.
Natasha Williams who runs the Post Office next to the CWA Hall was counting her blessings and saying a prayer of thanks to the Boggabilla and Goondiwindi firies who saved the old building which has been the centre of Boggabilla life for generations.
“I am so grateful,” she said.
“There was nothing they could do for the hall and the house, they just went up, but they made sure we didn’t lose it (the post office).”
There was nothing they could do for the hall and the house, they just went up, but they made sure we didn’t lose it (the post office)
- Natasha Williams
There are numeorus stories of loss and pain in Boggabilla.
Earlier this year a mother of six, Lynda Dean, came back home.
She carried her six week-old son.
He came into the world, just making the 2kg mark. He was welcomed by friends and family, a lot of them including brothers and sister: John, 15, Roberts, 14, Mariade, 12, William, 2, Clancy, 1.
It was a wonderful month of excitement and celebration.
That celebrating continued when Lynda packed up the family and drove to North Star. They were going to the opening night of the Cleveland Hotel. As the new publican, it was Lynda’s new challenge in life.They decided to stay the night – thankfully.
Because when Lynda woke up the next morning she discovered life had thrown up a challenge she never thought she’d have to face.
Her Boggabilla home was a razed ruin. Someone – she believes she knows who – had sneaked into her house in Yeoman Street, set it alight, and vanished into the night.
There’s nothing left of her home. She and her children lost everything.
Long-time family friend, Boggabilla resident, and member of the Boggabilla Fire Brigade, Gary Roberts, was one of the first on the scene after Police raised the alarm around 1a.m.
“Everyone is too scared to say who it was because they are worried they might get bashed. It’s all out of control and we need help, Mr Roberts said.
Everyone is too scared to say who it was because they are worried they might get bashed. It’s all out of control and we need help
- Boggabilla resident, Gary Roberts
The Goondiwindi Fire Brigade also attended. “Nothing we could do to save it,” Mr Roberts said. “We were even worried it might spread.”
What frustrates and angers him, and Lynda, is that the home, which belongs to Mr Roberts, is just one of more than a dozen Boggabilla homes that have been razed to the ground by arsonists.“I’ve lost count, 13 or 14? There’s at least six within a block or two of here,” he said.
Lynda said a friend lost their home last year.“I felt terrible and I was so sorry for them, but, I didn’t really understand. I do now. thirty-five years of my life are gone. They’ve been deleted, erased,” she said.
Fridge and freezers can be replaced, antiques are a bit harder, but you can’t get photos and baby keepsakes back.
“A lot of people’s lives have gone up in flames there,” she said as she looked at the ruin of her home. It’s the little things that hit you the hardest. I can’t look at the wall and see the pictures of your kids.”
She’s battling to come to grips with why anyone would torch their home. Adding to the pain is her belief she knows who did it.
“I think it’s kids.” Mr Roberts goes further. He believes those responsible are being given alibis by their parents.
But Lynda strikes you as someone who won’t be broken by the challenges in life. “What else can you do? You can only move forward and make a go of it.”
She says family, friends and complete strangers helped make that easier.
“The generosity of people has been amazing. I want to thank everyone who has helped,” she said.
Now more people will be called on to help another family who has lost everything.
Earlier
Fire has ripped through properties on a street in Boggabilla, and left two properties destroyed.
NSW Rural Fire Rescue received a triple zero call around 6am on Wednesday in regards to a fire at Merriwa Street, Boggabilla.
Boggabilla Fire Brigade and Queensland Fire and Rescue crews attended to the scene.
“On arrival, the Boggabilla crew found three houses alight,” RFS District Officer Stephen Prichard said.
According to Mr Prichard, the fire originated from an abandoned building and spread through long grass to the adjoining properties.
Two houses were lost, one property and the local Post Office were saved.
“Nobody was injured. All the occupants were out of the houses at the time of the fire,” Mr Prichard said.
The flames were extinguished around 6.56am. Moree Fire Station sent a truck to assist, but it was turned back before it arrived at the scene.
Mr Prichard praised the speedy response of the fire crews. He also urged residents to be fire-aware.
“It’s a reminder for residents to clear long grass around their houses and gutters, and to make sure they have working smoke alarms in their houses,” he said.
RFS and NSW police are investigating the cause of the fire. According to Mr Prichard, the cause of the fire is being treated as suspicious.
