CFA fights for family

By Tania Martin
A GROUP of Kalorama firefighters are calling on hills people to dig deep to help a family who lost all their possessions in a house fire.
For the Kabris family a fun day out to Luna Park ended up being one of the worst of their lives.
But it was lucky that they weren’t home when a fire started shortly after 4pm on Thursday 3 April.
Kalorama CFA captain Alex Felich said it was suspected that the fire was started by an electrical fault.
He said the double story house in Inverness Road was fully alight when the brigade arrived at the scene.
Mr Felich said firefighters from Mt Evelyn, Monbulk and Montrose also attended the incident.
Trisha and John Kabris were shocked when they received the call to tell them their house was on fire.
“We expected it to be burnt but not this much,” Mr Kabris said.
For Trisha and John, the fire wasn’t a great start to married life.
The couple had just returned from having a romantic wedding ceremony in Thailand.
But now they are faced with the task of finding somewhere to live.
John, Trisha, and her twin seven-year-old sons, Isaac and Finley, are now living in a cottage in Olinda and are desperately looking for a rental property.
A group of firefighters are now calling on hills communities to dig deep to help this family.
Kalorama firefighter Virginia McCallum said it was unusual to attend a fire where everything was lost. She said it was now important to help the family to get back on its feet.
For Ms McCallum it wasn’t just that this family had lost everything, but it touched her because the Kabris were her neighbours.
“It (the fire) has hit a little bit too close to home,” she said. On the day, Ms McCallum said there was an unusual amount of female firefighters at the fire. “We went back to the station house and thought we need to do something to help this family,” she said.
From there an idea was born to help the Kabris by starting up a support fund.
Hills people are now being urged to get behind the appeal and help this family get back on their feet.
Those wishing to help the Kabris can drop donations into Kringle’s Christmas Shop in Olinda or by calling Bimbadeen Lodge on 9761 9656.