Manuka Gorge House Fire - cleanup costs

On Tuesday 2nd July a devastating fire destroyed the home of Mike, Amanda and her 2 boys Jack (13) and Charlie (11)

Together they have worked so hard to make this their little slice of paradise in the Manuka Gorge and now they are having to start over and rebuild their lives.

For the next 9-12months they are needing to rent a house in town while still tending to the animals on the farm as well as replace everything lost in the fire, including a motorbike given to Jack for his 13th birthday earlier this year.

These guys are the kindest family, always doing what they can to help others, now it's our time to help them!

Yes they have insurance but there are so many things that won't be covered, who actually updates their contents every single time they purchase a new item? Disconnection and early termination of contract fees for phone, power, gas, sky etc and sky charging them for a decoder and dish that are non retrievable, and Internet provider also charging for dish and modem that can't be returned.

Both boys need new school uniforms which are not cheap and they have had to rehome their pets that they cannot take to the rental or leave on the farm.

Having insurance does not mean that they don't need a bit of extra help, they have lost everything!

As the home contained asbestos the clean up and removal cost is estimated to be around $45,000, this will come out of the amount they have to rebuild with leaving a massive shortfall for their new home.