Young Sarsfield couple get engaged after fire destroys their home

Image: Lachlan Molnar and Hailey McAlpine

A young couple have had a bittersweet end to 2019, losing their house and getting engaged on the same day.

Lachlan Molnar, 20, and Hailey McAlpine, 18, lost their Sarsfield home when bushfires swept through the town.

“We had to evacuate,” Mr Molnar told 3AW’s Nick McCallum, filling in for Tom Elliott.

“We lost our house and all our belongings. There’s literally nothing left.

“Most of Sarsfield is gone, unfortunately.

“It was just devastating to see.”

Mr Molnar had planned to propose to his girlfriend Hailey at midnight on New Year’s Eve for weeks, and decided to go ahead with the plan despite the tragedy the pair had endured that day.

“I did think about not doing it, because it really was a bit of a grim time,” he said.

“I decided that, considering the circumstances, it was the worst way to end a year.

“I thought I’d start the new year with the best way I could possibly do it — by proposing to my girlfriend on the dot of midnight!”

Ms McAlpine took his proposal at the Paynesville light show well.

“She was jumping around in joy and bawling her eyes out. It was the best feeling,” Mr Molnar said.

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