Photos and necklaces containing ashes of Steph Van Zyl’s deceased daughter were lost in Sunday’s fire which destroyed her Warrnambool house.
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Steph was out shopping without her phone when the fire broke out and was confronted with the fire scene when she walked around the corner into Ocean Grove after catching the bus home.
“It’s only when I came home I knew the house was burning down,” she said.
While the photos and necklaces can’t be replaced, firefighters were able to retrieve the urn with her deceased daughter’s ashes. Steph’s daughter, Hope, died two years ago of a heart condition at just eight weeks old.
She is now 29 weeks pregnant with a baby girl and has a one-year-old son called Chase. The fire also claimed all her possessions including baby clothes and items she had bought for her new arrival. However, she was able to salvage some of her son’s toys and baby hand and foot moulds.
Firefighters also saved wrapped Christmas presents from under the tree, but Steph said she had not unwrapped them to see if the plastic toys had melted in the heat. She said she was overwhelmed by offers of support from the community.
The family is staying with friends and said someone had offered a fully-furnished unit for her to live in until she finds a permanent solution.
Dozens of people across Warrnambool have taken to Facebook to pledge items they are willing to donate.
