For the first time in several months, a house fire victim from Kingston has a reason to feel optimistic about the future.
Adam Lewthwaite lost everything when his home of 48 Clare Road burnt down on December 12.
Now, an important milestone is nearing.
Mr Lewthwaite’s property goes on sale at auction on February 19, and it does so in a flourishing market.
He says he hopes this will recover some of the losses and get him a new place to call home.
“I’m looking forward to getting a low-set unit, so I have something for my kids when I’m done,” he said. “That’s why.”
Mr Lewthwaite has two kids in their 20s. He was not in the house at the time of the fire, but lost everything and has been living with friends and family since.
“All the memorabilia from my kids and parents are all gone, and I’ll never be able to get that back,” he said.
“Thank god I’ve had people around me to help.”
Mr Lewthwaite, a former chef, said the stress of the last two months has been soul-destroying and brought on epileptic fits.
The sale of the property will never recover losses adding up to the extent of the damages, but it is an important step in the healing process.
“If I could get a unit for $280,000, I’d still have a bit left over from my land,” he said.
Salvaging something is even more important given he did not have insurance at the time of the fire. If he could afford to maintain a policy, he would have kept it.
“I put my insurance off three months before the fire because I couldn’t afford it at the time,” he said.
While it may have been a freak, unavoidable accident, Mr Lewthwaite believes there are small steps people can take to at least limit their risk of experiencing a house hire.
“If there’s one thing people can learn from my experience, it’s to put the right fire protection systems in place and have fire alarms,” he said.
News of the fire was published widely. Luke Arthur was living in Mr Lewthwaite’s home as the fire started in the early hours of Sunday, December 12.
He was saved only because of his kelpie Lunar, who roused him from sleep when the fire broke out.
“It went up as quick as a feather,” Mr Lewthwaite said.
What is left on the property is the house as it was on the night it burnt down. But the land is where the real value rests.
Selling agent Keny Guerra, Ray White Marsden, said there is ample opportunity for a buyer looking to start afresh.
“There is potential to build a duplex and start from scratch, which is rare for this area given how old it is and that you typically have to drive further out of the suburbs for land,” she said.
Ms Guerra does not know exactly how much the property will fetch given the unpredictability of the market.
“It’s very hard to say in this market, but valuations for similar properties place it anywhere in the vicinity of the mid-300s or high-200s,” she said.
The land at 48 Clare Rd will go under the hammer at 12pm on February 19, on site.
