After their tragedy there was so much heartbreak...
But look at them now!
Today I had the privilege of marrying Naomi & Chris
Tuesday 24th March 2015
On the MV Dolphin Explorer in a beautiful Ceremony amidst Family and Friends.
Congratulations to you both and wishing you a lifetime of love, laughter and better days for you and the family. It was an honour to be your Celebrant.
Martess Dowling Civil Marriage Celebrant
Couple’s wedding dreams up in smoke after house fire at Fosters Rd, Hillcrest
•SAM KELTON
•THE ADVERTISER
DECEMBER 05, 2014 12:52PM
A YOUNG couple’s pets have been saved from a fire that ripped through their Hillcrest home this morning — but their wedding dreams have, literally, gone up in smoke.
Chris Joseph, 25 and Naomi White, 22 were asleep in their Fosters Rd home when they woke to find their bedroom ablaze around 3am and called the Metropolitan Fire Service.
The pair escaped unharmed but were forced to leave their pets including a dog, birds, fish and reptiles inside.
Firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze within 15 minutes and were also able to rescue the pets including Jib, their 11-month-old Kelpie who was under the bed during the ordeal.
Jib was given oxygen and taken to a vet where he is now in good health,
“I was shaking Chris yelling ‘fire, fire’,” Ms White said.
“There were flames coming out of the air conditioner. I tried calling out to the dog but he wasn’t responding. I didn’t know he was under the bed.”
Mr Joseph said they had feared the worst for Jib.
“Jib came out lifeless but the firies put him on oxygen,” he said. “It’s lucky he got out ... lucky we all got out.”
The pair who are uninsured and set to marry in March have been left with just a handful of items after much of the decorations and work they had put into their special day perished in the blaze.
“We were saving money for our wedding and we’ve lost everything,” Ms White said. “We’ve lost more than $500 worth of stuff for the wedding — and we haven’t got much left — the fire and smoke has destroyed everything.” Fire damage was contained to the bedroom but smoke damage was reported throughout.
The cause was traced to an electrical fault in a wall mounted air conditioning unit in the bedroom and total damage estimated at $50,000.
Mr Joseph’s model truck, car and boat collection, which he has been building for years, worth thousands of dollars also perished in the fire
“I had over 40 of them and there’s not many left,” he said.
“We’re homeless now and I don’t know what to do — I guess we’ll stay with mum for a while — but I don’t know what we’re going to do about the wedding.
“We don’t have insurance ... it’s going to be hard,” Ms White added.