Please help the Bannister family, who lost everything in a devastating apartment fire. They were only able to escape with the clothes on their backs. They are now facing significant financial strain as they work to replace basic necessities such as clothing and furniture, while also covering the high cost of hotel stays. They have been informed that they will not be able to return to their apartment as it will need extensive renovations taking 6 months or longer

The Bannisters’ daughter attends Coast Karma Academy, a school for children with autism and other special needs—the same school my son attends. This makes the situation even more challenging, as their daughter has sensory needs and has lost the stability of her familiar environment. My own family was evacuated from our home for two weeks this past summer due to the Vancouver Island fires, and it was incredibly difficult for my son to be away from the place where he feels safe. So I cannot imagine what they are going through..

here I is what happened in their own words.

“once andOn the early hours of Tues, Jan 13th at 3:30 I was awakened by thick smoke and a loud crashing sound. I was sleeping in the living room (my husband snores) and realized that the living room window had shattered and that our apartment was quickly filling with thick black smoke. I saw that there was a large fire on our patio that was way beyond putting out by me. The heat had broken the window and the flames were now inside the apartment. I ran into my daughters room to wake her and then my husband and we all quickly ran out as the fire alarm and sprinklers came on. We ran out without any of our belongings and stood outside while we watched our whole lives literally going up in flames. Luckily the firemen rescued our pets and the 3 of us and everyone else in our building were unharmed. The fire inspector examined the scene and came to the conclusion that an extension cord was the source of the fire. We were able to go in after a couple days and take what was undamaged, like our wallets and a few other things but we lost almost everything we own, including sentimental belongings”