THE fire that ripped through St Andrew's Catholic College, Cairns, on Monday has cost one 14-year-old student a full set of baby teeth.
Among a box of treasures Mallory Lloyd had brought to school for a project were irreplaceable photos of her as a baby, her first ballerina jewellery box, her first bracelet, her first rosary beads and every one of her baby teeth kept in a silver container.
All were destroyed in the blaze that gutted much of P-block – including Mallory’s home classroom – early Monday, forcing the school to close for the day.
Yesterday, the tears had stopped flowing for Mallory but she was still struggling to come to terms with what she had lost.
"They’re gone now and I can’t get them back," she said softly.
"I just want the people who did this to know that from what they’ve done, they’ve hurt a lot of people."
Mallory’s mum Mandy Lloyd said her only child was inconsolable on Monday when she realised that it was not just her schoolwork and textbooks that were lost.
"She was just devastated," Ms Lloyd said.
"I took her home and put her to bed, she was that upset."
The Cairns diocese’s Catholic education services executive director Dr Bill Sultmann acknowledged the hurt Mallory and many other St Andrew’s students and teachers were feeling.
"We can replace stuff but you can’t replace family treasures," Dr Sultmann said.
He said it now appeared the fire – which caused more than $1.5 million of damage to school property – was accidental, having been lit by the two youths involved for warmth and light rather than "with malicious intent".
He said punishment for the youths, who had showed "an intensive level of remorse and concern", was still being determined but could involve some community service.
