‘Cleansed by fire’: Murray Bridge man escapes Slade Street inferno
Exclusive: The owner of a house destroyed by fire last week reflects on his harrowing experience.
A Murray Bridge man is philosophical about the idea of starting his life again after losing almost everything in a house fire.
Emergency services were called to his home on Slade Street around 4.50pm last Thursday.
Firefighters from around the region soon joined the fight as a plume of black smoke rose above the city and rubberneckers crowded nearby street corners.
The heat was so intense that it blew out two windows on a neighbouring property; and difficulties in accessing the heart of the fire meant crews had to use breathing apparatus and handheld hoses to get in close.
The presence of asbestos at the scene added another layer of complexity – a public health warning was issued for the surrounding area.
When the smoke cleared, almost all property owner Martin had left were the clothes on his back, his chickens – which miraculously survived – and the cars parked out the front.
He suspected the fire may have started with a small amount of fuel which had spilled while he refilled a whipper snipper that afternoon.
He had taken his dog, Banzan, out for a walk when – like everyone else – he saw the smoke.
“You know when you’re out and you see smoke and you go, ‘F***, I hope that’s not my house?’” he said.
“Then I got that phone call.”
A great many belongings had been piled up around the 1970s fibro house: a dozen vehicles, 20 motorcycles, a boat, whitegoods, scrap metal and much more.
He had been attached to all of it, he said – but now it had been “cleansed by fire”.
“I’m totally embarrassed by it,” he said.
“It looks better burnt than it did.”
Buddhist meditations about the impermanence of life had helped him process his experiences, he said.
“You just observe sensations in your body and then you to a level where you know … things arise and they will pass,” he said.
“The only thing you have control of is your breath, really.
“I need to re-learn that.”
Half-recognisable in the wreckage of the Slade Street property are motorcycle bodies and appliances, while a half-burnt tree stands on a fence line and a citrus tree remains amid the clutter. Photos: Peri Strathearn.
Martin slept at a nearby motel on that first night after the fire, and has since found a place to stay temporarily.
But as a property owner, he said, he had been ruled ineligible for various forms of homelessness support, and had only been able to access food relief.
Rebuilding will be a challenge, too – his property was not insured.
He reached out for help with a few basic items on a local Facebook group on Tuesday, and told Murray Bridge News he was considering starting an online fundraiser.
As a former volunteer with a local food relief service, he was familiar with the places he could go to seek help in the community in the meantime: AC Care, Murray Bridge Community Centre, the Salvos.
Rebuilding his life would take time.
But after escaping last week’s inferno, mercifully, time was still something he had.
