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Kathy Altham left with nothing after a house fire gutted her Wickepin home with her dog still inside

Kathy Altham lost her Wickepin home of 12 years and all her possessions when a fire destroyed the property last month. Ms Altham was at work in Yealering while her Maltese Shih tzu, Ruby, was inside the Dumbleyung Road residence. A witness saw flames from the roof and reported the incident to emergency services about 10.20am on September 25. About 20 minutes after she arrived, Ruby was found hiding in the neighbour’s shed unharmed having escaped through the dog door. Ms Altham said she was in so much shock that she could not remember the conversation with emergency services. “I was horrified because I knew my dog was at home, it was a huge relief when she was found, she was so frightened,” she said. “I don’t have the words to describe it, it was like ‘no, that is not happening’.” The fire was deemed accidental and the cause is under investigation. Ms Altham must return to the site to feed her cats, fish, and chickens which remained unharmed at the back of the property, but she said it was too heartbreaking to delve into the rubble. “There is just so much gone,” she said. “It is all still very raw, stuff from my mum that’s gone, things from my children when they were little, stored things for retirement. “The little things that don’t mean much to anyone else but to me they meant everything. “Little notes from grandkids or my school bus kids — all gone, and I can’t get them back.” A tea set passed down from her grandmother to her mother and then to her was also destroyed. “I never used it, it just sat in my cupboard, but I don’t want another tea set — that was my nan’s,” she said. Speaking with the Observer at the site, Ms Altham said she was thinking of making a path with the old bricks when she rebuilds, but for now couldn’t bring herself to go through the remains, except to right a Pooh Bear cookie jar marking her late dog’s grave site, which had fallen over in the fire. “You can rebuild, but it is not the same,” she said through tears. “People need to get their houses checked, because this, this is not fun.” Currently, Ms Altham is staying with her ex-in-laws and has plans to rent an old Wickepin church that has been converted into a two-bedroom apartment until she can rebuild her home. Ms Altham said she is relieved she has somewhere to stay and has been blown away by the support from people in Wickepin, Narrogin, Toolibin and neighbouring communities. Despite never attending the Centrepoint Church Narrogin Campus, the group has given her clothes, toiletries, furniture and kitchen utensils. “All I had was the clothes on my back, which was my work uniform,” she said. “I’ve been given clothes, money donations, furniture, it has been wonderful. “People on the street offer me money and they have tins in the shops for people to donate. “It was widespread, the generosity of the area was just amazing.”

exclusiveKathy Altham left with nothing after a house fire gutted her Wickepin home with her dog still inside

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Kathy Altham left with nothing after a house fire gutted her Wickepin home with her dog still inside