A Mandurah daycare centre has vowed to rebuild after a fire destroyed its building last week.
Parents were left stranded on Thursday after Playtime Early Learning Centre in the Mandurah CBD was engulfed in flames on Wednesday just after 6pm — half an hour after closing — due to an electrical fault at the facility.
Firefighter crews managed to put the fire out out by 7.30pm. It is understood the electrical fire started in the daycare’s kitchen but it remains unclear what sparked it.
Centre manager Emma Small said the fire left the daycare’s staff “heartbroken”.
“As you can imagine, we are all heartbroken and still trying to process it ourselves,” she said.
“This has had a devastating affect on not only the owners, all of our employees, our families and all of our beautiful children, but it’s a big blow for the community and the childcare industry.
“The amount of love and support we have received from all of our families, past and present, and the whole community has been amazing and is such a credit to our service.”
Ms Small said the fire was not the end of Playtime and they were looking into their options, including rebuilding to “be back bigger and better than ever”.
Ms Small said since the fire she had worked with the Education and Care Regulatory Unit to find places for children attending Playtime at other local centres, including at the daycare’s sister site Little Learners Early Learning in Falcon.
Barefoot Early Learning in Erskine is one of the centres that will take on families who were attending Playtime.
Owner and director Sylvia Beukes said the centre had received eight inquiries and three enrolments on Thursday morning and would waive enrolment fees to assist them.
Ms Beukes said she had offered to “do everything we can to help and support Emma, the team and all families affected by the event”.
“In a time of need, we all need to work together to help each other out,” Ms Beukes said.
Parent Natalie Hassan said she was “in complete shock” when she saw photos and videos posted to Facebook of the fire on Wednesday evening after her 2 1/2 year old son had been attending the centre earlier in the day.
Her son had been attending Playtime since only term four last year, enabling her to return to work, and she is now looking at being able to work only two days a week instead of four.
Ms Hassan said she was unsure whether she would enrol her son in another daycare centre as she was mindful of how it would impact him as he has separation anxiety.
“The flexibility is completely gone, and even worse my son built trust with his educators and I can’t fathom the thought of sending him to a new place with all new faces and put him through all that again,” she said.
“The educators and centre manager made a plan with me regarding him coming and he has built such strong caring bonds.
“He enjoys the freedom to be himself and make friends.
“The educators there are all so welcoming and accommodating to my son and to myself, and we are, or were, just a small family there and now it’s been ripped from right under us. So many people will be directly affected by this.”
Ms Small said Playtime was a “family” and she planned to organise a catch up for Playtime families and educators as “an opportunity to be together one last time”.