The sound of her phone ringing at 4am on Monday awoke LaToya Terry. The hysterical voice of her neighbour alerted her to the devastating news. Her family home was on fire.
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"I must have woken everyone in the house, I was screaming," Ms Terry said.
"[My neighbour] said she's woken up and could smell smoke. She came down and she saw the firefighters were already there."
The house her grandparents built 45 years ago is now irretrievable.
"The whole roof has collapsed," Ms Terry said. "I've lost it all."
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In 2013, after the death of her grandparents, Ms Terry purchased the house.
"I wanted to keep it in the family, so I bought it. The house was left to me, my uncle and my two sisters who live here in Wagga so I bought them out and they used that money to then buy their own homes," she said.
"My nan and pop built this house. My dad was raised in this house, me, my sisters, my kids, we've all lived here.
"I moved out when I was 16. I put myself through high school, I went to uni - I graduated with honours - now I'm back and all my hard work is gone."
For her work, Ms Terry divides her time between Wagga and Griffith. On Sunday night - her birthday - she and her five-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter had stayed in Griffith.
"I travel so much for work, I actually looked into getting insurance three weeks ago but I couldn't afford it at the time," Ms Terry said.
"It's so stupid not to have insurance. I just never thought this would happen to me, and feeding my kids was more important."
Ms Terry had purchased a brand new kitchen that was to be installed in the home this week.
"I paid for it in September, last year. When I called up they said they were planning to come and do it on Wednesday," she said.
"My new kitchen is sitting in a showroom somewhere but there's no house to put it in."
In the hopes of rebuilding some of what has been lost, Ms Terry's sister has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe.
"Every cent helps. But there's no point staying depressed," Ms Terry said.
"That won't get anything done. You have to stay positive. It could have been worse, we could have been in there when it happened."
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