Maria and Lindsay Kirby say their son and grandsons are lucky to be alive.
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Their son, Kris, his two sons and a friend were inside the Kirby’s Hall Street home at Heddon Greta on Saturday night when two petrol bombs were thrown into the house about 11.30pm.
It took four Fire and Rescue NSW crews more than half an hour to get the blaze, which destroyed the house, under control.
Mrs Kirby said things could have easily been much worse.
“They are lucky to be alive,” she said.
“One (petrol bomb) hit the front just outside the window and one went through the window.
“Kris heard the first one and came out to see what it was, he went back and got the boys and as he was bringing them out the other one went in.
“One of his friends was in the front room on the computer, the boys were in the back room.”
Mrs Kirby said the children were shaken but ok after the ordeal.
“They’re only five and six but they’re coping well,” she said.
“The older one is a deep thinker, so you can see it turning over in his mind that this has happened and what is going on.”
The Kirby’s built the house eight years ago but recently relocated to allow their son to rent the property from them.
Mrs Kirby said the family had lost more than just the house.
“We had lots of happy memories here,” she said.
“The house can be replaced, I don’t care about that, Kris and the boys are safe, that’s the main thing.
“All the photos and things we left here are gone, the kids Christmas decorations with their dates of birth and their names on it.
“We’re grand parents, we’ve got 10 grand kids, all those balls with their names on them and things I intended on handing on to them one day, they’re gone.”
The couple thanked the community for their support, with a number of donations of clothing and appliances made to the family.
Mr Kirby said he hoped the perpetrators were brought to justice.
“I just hope they find them and charge them with four counts of attempted murder, because that’s what it is,” he said.
“Kris might have upset someone somehow, I don’t know,” Mrs Kirby said.
“But there were two little boys in there, it was 11.30 at night, if Kris had been asleep who knows?”
Anyone with information can contact Central Hunter detectives on 4934 0240 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.