ION and Rosaura Albert came to Australia with nothing, now, the hardworking Cooranbong couple have lost everything.
The pair luckily escaped with just minor injuries when their family home of 22 years burned to the ground in a tragic fire in the early hours of Sunday morning, October 23.
Their daughter Julia Bevan hopes to help them rebuild, after the fire took not only the home that her father built but their personal belongings, treasured photos and vehicles.
"Moving from overseas to a foreign country is hard, but now they're starting from scratch again," she said.
"They've been through a lot in their life so they're quite resilient people as it is, they are shocked and there are days where there's a lot of emotion and crying but mostly they're thankful they're alive."
Ms Bevan's mother and father were asleep when the fire started in their single-storey weatherboard home on Victory Street after 4am - the first sign something was wrong was when their family dog began running around the house.
When her father checked inside her brother's room, half of it was already in flames.
He ran to the kitchen and grabbed a pot of water in an attempt to extinguish the fire, but by then it had already leapt into the hallway and started to take hold of the house.
Their son, who was not home at the time of the blaze, was initially treated as "unaccounted for" by firefighters but was later located safe and well.
The house next door had also been licked by flames but more than a dozen fire crews from Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast managed to get control of the blaze and save the house.
Without insurance or fire alarms, Ms Bevan said they are lucky to be alive.
"They have plans to rebuild but that's going to take a lot of time and money," she said.
"They've been in that community a long time, maybe 27 years all up around that community of Cooranbong - that's been a really good thing because a lot of people know them and being a small country town there's more camaraderie to help those around.
"It's heartbreaking to see them go through something yet again, this is another stab, because they've been through enough as it is and they don't have a lot of family support nearby."
Ms Bevan has started a GoFundMe in the hopes she can raise enough money to start helping her parents get back on their feet.
So far it has raised close to $15,000 from generous members of the community.
"It's been beautiful, people have donated privately as well to Mum and Dad - when it comes to rebuilding it has been so beautiful to see people and strangers contribute money for them," Ms Bevan said.
To make a donation to help the family rebuild their home, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/family-home-tragedy.
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