A Bateau Bay family who lost everything in a devastating house fire earlier this month have Biggie, their little Jack Russell, to thank for their lives.
It was Biggie’s barking that woke the Zalberg family – Jennifer and Ben and their three children Benji, Eli and Jazzie – at about 11.30pm on the night of the fire.
“We were all asleep until Biggie our little Jack Russell barked and woke us up,” Jennifer said.
“I looked out the side door and saw the garage on fire.
“Ben ran outside to try and put it out, however the whole garage was engulfed, so I grabbed the kids and the hero dog and ran out the front calling emergency services on my way.
“By this stage, the fire had spread to the house, going through the roof.
“We ran to our neighbours and woke them up.
“The fire brigade turned up five to seven minutes later and they were amazing, leaping into action saving the fire from spreading to our neighbours.”
The Entrance Tigers Rugby League Juniors Club has rallied around the family with committee member Sarah Williams organising a GoFundMe campaign in an effort to raise money for the family,
“They are such a dedicated family, it’s the least we could do,” she said.
“We thought we could come together as a Tigers community and help them out.
“They were literally left with nothing except what they were wearing.
“They have lost everything in the fire.
“Jen and Ben have three beautiful children and Ben volunteers his time to train Benji’s team in under 11s and Jen is the manager for Eli’s under 7s team.
“Any donation big or small is an incredible help.
“We all send our love and thoughts to the Zalberg family.”
The club is now also running raffles with all funds raised going to the family.
Anyone wanting to help the family can visit GoFundMe campaign
Denice Barnes