A full-time solo grey nomad has been left homeless after her caravan was consumed by fire on Queensland’s Bruce Highway.
The Townsville Bulletin reports that Jay Boden, 61, was travelling near Crystal Creek in Far North Queensland when the drama unfolded,
The retiree has spent the last 18 months travelling around Australia with her pet dog, Muffin, her won following the death of her partner.
Ms Boden’s daughter, Kate Halliwell, told the Bulletin that her mother had been overwhelmed by the generosity of locals following the accident.
And she thanked motorists for rushing to help when the caravan caught fire, and the driver who first alerted her to the fact that there was a problem.
“It’s just things like that that kind of restores your faith in people a bit but if mum had the means, she would do that for other people,” said Ms Halliwell. “She made that really tiny space feel like a home and it’s just really hard,”
Ms Halliwell told the Bulletin that her mother, who lived simply, was forced to retire early from her job as a legal secretary due to a debilitating back injury that continued to plague her, and she lost her partner Wayne Dawson to cancer in late 2019.
Firefighters eventually managed to extinguish the blaze. PIC: Townsville Bulletin
The fire took all of her mother’s possessions including her clothes, and the sewing machine she used to make children’s toys and clothes for charity.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services managed to save the vehicle that was towing the now-destroyed caravan, but the SUV will have to be assessed to see if it’s roadworthy after suffering heat damage.
Jay’s caravan in happier pre-fire days. PIC: Townsville Bulletin.
Ms Halliwell told the Bulletin that Townsville residents had been hugely supportive, including the manager of the Bohle Barn who had put her mother up for two nights and refused to take any payment.
The insurance company is now helping out, and is paying for Ms Boden and Muffin to stay in a dog-friendly cabin at a Townsville camping ground. A GoFund me page has also raised nearly $3000 to help Ms Boden out until her insurance payment is sorted out.
