Wairarapa couple lose everything including pet dog Jake in house fire

Wairarapa local couple Eilleen and Mark Lambourn lost everything last Saturday night when a raging fire gutted their rural Carterton home and killed their beloved pet doberman of 10 years, Jake.

As she and her husband had no children, dogs had been a significant part of their lives. Jake is thought to have been lying on the couple’s bed when the fire started and the couple believed he died of smoke inhalation, hopefully in his sleep.

The rental property was not insured, but luckily they had a small amount of contents insurance.

An op shop lover, Eilleen said none of their furniture was worth a fortune, but she had lost things of great sentimental value, including items that had belonged to her mother, and a doll from when she was three years old. Mark also lost his wedding ring, which was sitting on the window sill next to the bed.

One silver lining was that they recovered their old photo albums including wedding photos.

The Lambourns will be staying with some wonderful friends until they figure out what to do next.

Donations will go into their Phoenix House account which will be transferred in full to Eilleen and Mark to help them rebuild their lives from scratch so they can rise from the ashes!

Please direct any enquiries regarding offers of items for donation etc to: Wairarapaphoenix@gmail.com