The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A SURVIVOR of the HMBS Flamingo attack and his family have been left homeless after a fire destroyed their home over the weekend - and the family is appealing for donations to help rebuild their home of 40-plus years.

Retired Defence Force Captain Whitfield Neely, one of the survivors of the ill-fated attack, saw his family of five’s life changed on Friday afternoon when their 45-year-old home, which he built, was ripped apart by a fire.

“Everything he built 45 years ago burned down in 45 minutes,” his son, Osano Neely, told The Tribune yesterday, adding the family is still uncertain about what caused the blaze.

Mr Neely was at work when he received the call from his fiancée, who said the house was on fire.

Mr Neely said he immediately told his fiancé to get their nearly five-month-old daughter and leave the home, as they were the only ones inside.

“She went outside and called 911, and I called my father at about 2.55 because he was oblivious; he didn’t even know. I said daddy, our house is one fire. He said, what house and he hung up the phone, and he raced to the house.”

“And on my way, as I was passing the bowling alley, he called me back, and I could hear the agony in his voice, the mourning and he said, ‘we were losing everything’ and the tears just travelled down my face.”

Mr Neely said he met his father, whom he described as a “happy-go-lucky” person, distraught at the burning home.

By the time firefighters arrived, he said there was nothing that could be done because the “blaze was just too much”.

“When my father pulled up, the story was said that he stormed right into the side and was going to the kitchen because he told them, ‘I have to get my daughter and granddaughter,’ but they were already outside but I guess the hero in him jumped out once again because he said he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if something had happened.”

Mr Neely said the family is not sure what led to the blaze.

“When I got an account from my fiancé, she told me it was awfully quiet. She said she was hearing this snapping and cackling, and she said it doesn’t sound like something my father would be doing. It didn’t sound like normal activity my father does in the backyard,” he said.

“And as she pulled the blind and looked out to the south, the flame was already at the windowsill, so chaos was going all around the house while she was in that room with the air condition on and the baby sleeping in the crib.”

He said by the time his fiancé opened the door, smoke was already filling the house, prompting her to take quick action to save her, the baby and their pets.

Mr Neely said the blaze had left the family displaced. His parents are now living with his sister, while he and his fiancé are staying with his godparents.

“We are all split up, and we are not used to this, but we will rise again,” he said.

Mr Neely has started a GoFundMe page to raise $250,000 to assist with rebuilding efforts.