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Oyster River fire displaces family

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Our co-worker and her family have just lost everything due to a devastating house fire last night , December 11, 2017. Her daughter and two grandchildren ages nine and four had to evacuate their home in the late evening with just the cloths on their backs. We are all thankful they escaped unharmed but will need as much help as possible. They were able to save their dog, cat and a rabbit. We are all asking if there is anything the community can  do, it would be much appriciated.They will need clothes, shoes, household goods, furniture as they will need to start from scratch. With it being so close to Christmas with two children who have lost everything., the sooner we get funds the better . They  have a temporary place to stay for three nights while trying to grasp the shock of what just happened to them. All funds raised will go directly to the affected family and will be used to replace and rebuild everything they have lost..
Unfortunatey there was no insurance to cover their loses.
Thank you for taking the time to read this plea for help


CTV Vancouver Island
Published Tuesday, December 12, 2017 11:30AM PST
Last Updated Tuesday, December 12, 2017 6:36PM PST

Two more families have been displaced following another overnight fire in the Comox Valley.

Firefighters were called to a blaze at a duplex in Oyster River around 10:30 p.m. Monday and arrived to flames shooting out of the building.

Crews eventually put out the flames and investigators performed two separate checks of the property after the blaze was believed to have been extinguished.

Flames were shooting out of a duplex in Oyster River in a fire that flared up again hours after crews believed they had extinguished it. Dec. 12, 2017. (Submitted)
oyster river duplex fire

The Oyster River Volunteer Fire Department was called to a blaze that flared up later in the night, after it was believed to have been extinguished. Dec. 12, 2017. (CTV Vancouver Island)

There were no signs of smoke or flame during the checks, the fire department said. But to their surprise, the fire flared up again and crews were paged back to the building just after 3 a.m., an hour after the second check.

"When I arrived here, the whole roof from one end to the other end was fully involved," said Oyster River Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Green.

Crews spent the remainder of the night extinguishing the blaze once more. The interior of the structure appeared to completely destroyed.

A family of four and a family of three were displaced but all made it out uninjured, according to Green.

The family of three was taken to hospital to get checked out for possible smoke inhalation, and Emergency Social Service found accommodations for those affected.

Green said unattended candles are believed to have sparked the original fire, but it's still unclear how it flared back up.

"Hindsight's 20-20. We're still going to do an investigation now to determine what caused the flare-up. We're unsure at this time why it rekindled," he said. "I'm sick to my stomach right now because I feel bad, guilty, that we didn't do our job, I didn't do my job, that this happened."

The daughter of the building's landlord praised the fire department for doing everything they could.
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  • Joanne Jamieson
    • $50 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Kim Smith
Organizer
Campbell River, BC
Gail Davies
Beneficiary

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