The fire, which started in the roof, gutted the home.
On what should have been a day for celebration, a Blighty family was forced to stand by and watch their home razed by flames on Christmas Day.
The occupants — who have asked not to be named — were tending to repairs in their dairy when the fire started.
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The flames quickly took hold of their brick home, which was completely gutted.
Mid Murray Rural Fire Service Inspector Doug Adamson said the fire was reported by a neighbour, who noticed smoke coming from the roof at about 8pm.
At the time of the report, the blaze and smoke was contained to the roof cavity only.
But within half an hour firefighters on the scene had confirmed the home could not be saved.
‘‘The Blighty and Pine Lea brigades responded, and by 8.30pm they were saying it was going to be a total loss,’’ Insp Adamson said.
‘‘We had four firefighters from Blighty, three from Pine Lea and others assisting from the community, and some stayed on all night to monitor the fire.
‘‘It was left to burn out, and at 6.30am Sunday they put water and foam on it and that extinguished it completely.
‘‘Given it was 8pm on Christmas Day, I was very impressed with the response from the crews.’’
Firefighters try in vain to douse the flames which took hold of the Blighty home on Christmas Day.
Insp Adamson said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but he said there is one leading theory.
‘‘The only thing we know for sure is that it started in the roof, but we suspect it may have been electrical,’’ he said.
‘‘It could have been the air conditioner.’’
Also jumping into action quickly on Saturday evening were members of the community, with the Blighty Advancement Committee pledging any support it could.
Its president Andy Lostroh said it’s the second time the group has had to offer such support to a local family, following the fire that destroyed the Ford family’s Blighty home in August.
‘‘There have already been plenty of offers of support, and we’re working with the family to determine exactly what they need,’’ Mr Lostroh said of this latest blaze.
‘‘We want to support them in any way possible, and any offers of support would be most welcome.
‘‘People have already provided them with caravans (so they have somewhere to sleep).’’
Mr Lostroh said it was a relief that no-one was injured in the blaze.
But he said the residents did lose everything except the clothes they were wearing at the time.
If you can help the Blighty family, please call Mr Lostroh on 0401 764 436 or Blighty Advancement Committee treasurer Judy Plattfuss on 0429 029 352.
