General News
20 March, 2023
Reignition destroys home
The Minyip community is rallying around a family who lost their home after it caught fire twice in 6 hours. A number of district brigades were called to attend the Minyip’s 36 Market Street at around 5.30pm, and found the fire had already burned...
The Minyip community is rallying around a family who lost their home after it caught fire twice in 6 hours.
A number of district brigades were called to attend the Minyip’s 36 Market Street at around 5.30pm, and found the fire had already burned up the wall near the switchboard and into the roof of the 1950’s weatherboard family home.
By early evening the fire was under control, after firefighters removed the roofing iron to attack the blaze in the roof, saving most of the home structure.
However in the early hours of Tuesday morning, at around 1am, the fire reignited.
Brigades were called out again and this time found the house fire “fully engaged.”
District 17 fire investigator Commander Lindsay Barry said local town brigades including Minyip, Murtoa and Rupanyup attended both fires.
“Upon investigation, it would appear the source of the fire is around the home’s electrical switchboard and the fire then spread into the roof area, which brigades brought under control on Monday evening,” he said.
“However the further reignition of the fire is still under investigation, but is not being treated as suspicious.”
Police and the Crime Scene Investigation Squad attended the scene, but Commander Barry said, from their investigation, there was nothing suspicious about the fire.
The home owners, former proprietors of Minyip’s Viet/Aus Cafe - now Emma’s Cafe - Shane and Tina Johnston were in Vietnam at the time of the fire, and they hurriedly returned this week to see what could be saved from their property.
The Herald understands the couple were in the process of building a new home in Minyip but had not moved into it yet, and hence lost most of their possessions in the blaze.
The couple have three young children, Ella, Jade and Ewan, and Shane's mother Janelle was living in a caravan in the driveway at the time of the fire and has lost her possessions too.