Wellington fire: Young Stokes Valley family lose everything in blaze

The damage to the house. Photo / Supplied

After losing everything but the clothes on their backs in a house fire, a Stokes Valley family is struggling to rebuild their lives.

On Tuesday, the couple, who did not wish to be named had put their two young daughters to sleep. At around 10.30pm, one of the girls woke up to go to the bathroom, and noticed the flickering of flames coming from downstairs.

Panicked, the two parents grabbed their daughters and their dog, and ran out of the house – which was engulfed in flames within five minutes.

Sadly, the family's two young kittens could not be found, and are assumed to have died in the fire.

The woman's sister Tyler Ripia told the Herald the fire has devastated the young family.

"They were really lucky to get out when they did, they ran out with the clothes on their back ... they've lost all their clothes, everything sentimental – it's just devastating for them."

Ripia says the outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming.

"Hundreds of people have been reaching out with donations, I've had businesses reaching out with free vouchers, people have been donating their clothes, toys for the kids – the Givealittle is just over $5000 now."

The money will go towards helping the young family finding another place to live and supplying them with necessities as they rebuild their lives.

Ripia told the Herald she and her family were extremely grateful not only to the community but to emergency services.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to the firefighters and responding emergency teams, they've gone above and beyond keeping us safe. This is a really good time to acknowledge our firefighters, knowing only last week they were on strike.

We're looking to the future and slowly rebuilding."