The Wagga community has rushed to the aid of a family who lost everything in a house fire on Friday.
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Rural Fire Service crews attended the Wagga Boarding Kennels at Gelston Park on Friday morning to extinguish what they described as a "fierce" fire at the house of kennel owners Tim and Sarah Mathieson.
Fortunately there were no injuries, and all animals at the property were unharmed with the fire not impacting the kennels.
However, every single one of the family's possessions has been destroyed with the fire doing significant damage to the structure of the house.
Multiple emergency services attended the fire just after 10am including Lake Albert Rural Fire Brigade, Forest Hill RFS, Glenfield RFB and Turvey Park Fire and Rescue.
Mrs Mathieson's brother Sam Went has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the couple and their three children with basic necessities after they were left with just the clothes on their back.
The family was not home at the time of the fire.
Mr Went, who had also been living at the house, said it was "shocking" to learn the house had caught alight, but the belongings he lost paled into insignificance compared to what his sister's family was dealing with.
"The clothes they have are what they were wearing that day, the kids have no clothes, all their toys were lost," Mr Went said.
"The money will go straight to them."
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He said the family was quickly contacted by people wanting to help with food and toiletries while they look for permanent accommodation, and they had been pleasantly surprised by the response to the GoFundMe with the community donating nearly $6000 by Sunday afternoon.
"We didn't think it was going to get as big as it has," Mr Went said.
He said the couple came from big families who were rallying around them, along with people from around the world he and his sister had befriended through fitness which had helped them raise the funds.
The fundraiser can be found at GoFundMe.com under 'Family who lost everything in a house fire' hosted by Sam Went.
The fire is one of several to have severely damaged homes across the Riverina this winter.