Lost everything in a house fire.

BACKGROUND: In late June I had rented a 3 bedroom cottage at Birdlings Flat on the Banks Peninsula. It was perfect for all my personal and business needs. I run the website www.foodbank.co.nz which provides a directory of foodbanks in NZ for people seeking food assistance and the property was going to be the base of operations. After spending some effort getting all the internet, telephone, power and Sky services connected I was looking forward to getting settled in and enjoying my new home.

THE FIRE: At about 5.00pm I lit the fire in the dining room and settled in for the evening in the lounge watching TV. At about 6pm the smoke alarm went off and I saw smoke coming through the door across the ceiling. At first I thought the chimney was blocked as the fireplace was a bit old. When I entered the room the entire wall above the mantelpiece was ablaze. The Fire Service Investigator deemed the fire accidental with the possibility the chimney was damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes so the fire went into the wall and burned from the inside out. I was very lucky as it could have burned all night unseen until it was too late, especially if I was asleep.

I did the right thing by getting out and staying out and called 111. I managed to save some clothes that were on the washing line and family photos and documents but pretty much everything else was either burnt, melted or severely smoke damaged.

INSURANCE: Before I moved in the landlord and I had arranged for a third party to take photos of the property and contents for insurance. While the photos were taken the third party never sent them to the insurance company meaning we were uninsured.

AFTERMATH: While the fire destroyed everything inside the house, the structure is intact. The interior has been gutted and the roof will need to be replaced. The repairs are likely to be in the vicinity of $20-30K. The landlord has had to remortgage her primary home to fund the repairs and she also lost other property.

In the weeks following, Work & Income, The Salvation Army, The Warehouse South City and a kind generous stranger have helped replace some of my clothes, cutlery and provide a bed. My family has also helped with a few things. My landlord has provided temporary accommodation in a converted garden shed at her property which I am thankful for. It is not suitable long term but it has kept me warm & dry in the meantime.

I am an independent person and I find asking for help difficult but trying to start again and maintain the website from the sleepout is becoming a struggle especially with bills mounting (No thanks to SkyTV for your $175 bill for the destroyed MySky box) Although I have done what I could it was suggested I put my pride aside and create this page toseek donations from friends & the Givealittle community to help cover the costs of replacing everything that was lost and be able to afford to move into a new home and continue helping others with the foodbank site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I really appreciate your help.

Craig