Home burgled after surviving fire

Hoffman resident Patty Egan was furious to find thieves had broken in and stolen precious items from her home, just three weeks after the bushfires came right to the doorstep.

Mrs Egan and her partner returned to their home on Logue Brook Dam Road after the fires had swept through the valley and most of their 20ha property.

Police said offenders broke in some time between last Thursday and Sunday. Forensic officers were now investigating.

Mrs Egan said her partner noticed tyre tracks on their gravel driveway, but thought nothing of it because Western Power had been working there trying to restore power to their house and surrounding areas.

"It seems like they (the offenders) pried open the wood box in the kitchen and did what they did inside and left through the front doors," Mrs Egan said.

Since the burglary, Mrs Egan has compiled a list of things missing from around the house - such as their coffee machine, generator, clothes, a gas bottle, a meat cleaver and a chainsaw - to give to police.

"They took canned food and they took the beer but not the wine and our stools from our kitchen - I mean who are these people?" Mrs Egan said.

"The generator was gone, chainsaw was gone and the fuel cans which were to be used to help the generator run were also stolen.

"That's insult to injury - we have already been affected by the fires and then somebody comes in and takes advantage of the fact that they can rip off some stuff."

The shed on their property which housed a jet ski, tent, canoes and valuable tools was burnt to the ground.

The fire reached their kitchen window, melting the water pipes that lead into the house.

"We are lucky enough to have our house at all," Mrs Egan said.

"It is a pole house, it probably should have burnt but it didn't and to have someone come in and take whatever they wanted, we feel like we have been kicked while we were down."

"They took canned food and they took the beer but not the wine and our stools from our kitchen." - Patty Egan