21 November 2019

Rebuilding Yarloop

Lotterywest retailer Ron Sackville embodies the spirit of Yarloop, a town continuing to move forward from devastating bushfires. A volunteer firefighter during the 2016 fires, he did everything in his power to save Yarloop.

“I wasn’t defending my house, I was defending my home,” he said.

“What really broke my heart was I almost put the fire out in our paddock, which would have saved two or three houses further down the street.

“I ran out of hose so I couldn’t get far enough across the paddock to stop it and it got past me.

“That was really hard because as a firefighter you do your upmost to try and put the fire out and when it gets past you, you know you’ve lost the battle.”

Almost four years on the impact of the fire lingers, however much like the spirit of Yarloop, Ron has worked hard to restore Yarloop.

“In a small community like this it becomes very special, so you fight, you don’t back off you just keep going,” he said.

Today, Friday 22 November 2019, saw the re-opening of Yarloop’s Community Centre, just metres down the road from Ron’s store. By playing Lotterywest games, you've helped support the development of the Centre with a $750,000 grant.

“Lotterywest has been a major contributor to this town ever since I’ve been here,” Mr Sackville said.

“I’ve seen them support to the play group, the fire brigade, to the workshops and now this major contribution in the way of putting back our most important building.”

Every year Lotterywest give grants to West Australian community organisations that provide services, support and inspiration to make this already great state, greater.