WHEN Jeff Simmons gave up his farm in 2006 following a drought, he turned to an old tin shed in Benalla to earn a livelihood.
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He loved his time living on the land, but eventually came to find joy in his bric-a-brac shop on Railway Place.
That too was taken from him after the shed was set alight about 11.30pm last Thursday.
“We had a lot of stuff in the shed that you will never ever see again,” Mr Simmons said.
“Things like kerosene tins which were 80 or 90 years old.
“We had an old weather station, you’d keep out in the paddock and the fellas from the weather bureau would go out to check the temperature and rainfall. We collected anything we could get our hands on and people were quite interested in them.
“I always had a story for the item I was selling.”
Mr Simmons and his partner Ping rented the historic tin shed, which is now a pile of ash and debris.
When Mr Simmons arrived at the fire, his main concern was his dog, Storm.
He said the family pet was found safe, but almost everything else was gone.
“The heat was so extreme it started melting plastic off the cars in the backyard,” Mr Simmons said.
“Ping called for Storm and he came running out.
“One of the saddest things we did lose … the fella behind us just passed away and I had all his military items, he wanted me to sell it all.
“There is a tiny bit of insurance, only to cover the office stuff.”
A girl, 16, from Devenish, has been charged with arson and bailed to appear in a Victorian children’s court.
An online auction was held during the week raising about $200 and the family was also contacted by community members offering up items from their own sheds.
Mr Simmons’ daughter, Vicki, said a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into the shed.
“For me it's about trying to rebuild something for dad, it was his life,” she said.
“To see him so unhappy makes me want to push more to get something up and going.
“He's been hit pretty hard, he loved his farm, then when this was up and running for about three years, we put so much into it. For it to be taken away in a couple of minutes is just devastating
“I just want to thank the community for getting behind us at this time.”
For more information, visit gofundme.com/22vg9e4.
