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As you have likely already heard, my sister’s house burned to the ground the other night. They lost everything except for the clothes on their backs and the work truck they fled in to my parents’ house. They managed to get their cat on their way out, but they were unable to save their dog or bunny :(.
What you may not know, is that this was a brand new log home, their dream home, that they had worked on tirelessly with contractors to build over the last four years (and planned for much longer). They built near our parents to be close to them, and so their kids could grow up steps away from their grandparents. They only got to live in the house for two-and-a-half years before a fateful night took it all away. Four years of tireless work and long stressful days, for it to all go up in smoke in one night.
They will never know what caused the fire as there was nothing left to investigate. Everything had passed inspection and was in good working order. All they know is that the fire started in the basement, and by the time the fire fighters were able to get to it with enough water, it was too late to save the house, and all they could do was try to keep it from spreading.
Thankfully, thankfully they all escaped unharmed. And it sounds like insurance is going to cover quite a bit so that they can rebuild something. Unfortunately, it will not cover everything that was lost. And, as we know, insurance claims can take a very long time to process and bring with them their own stresses and headaches with everything involved.
It will be some time before they receive anything from insurance to help them get re-established. They lost all of their ID, all electronics except for one cell phone and their entire life’s worth of personal belongings. It is going to take a long, long time to get back to where they were just two days ago, and there will be many steps involved over the coming months.
For now, as a young family with two small boys, they need to get life back into a routine as soon as possible for their children. They will be moving back into town for now, until they can start the process again to rebuild a home on their property to move back into. So much time lost :(.
We have been flooded with texts and phone calls by many of you asking how you can help. We so appreciate all of the support and the willingness of family, friends and our beautiful community to jump in and help alleviate the burden. We have been trying to figure out the best way for people to be able to show their support, and have decided that setting up a go-fund-me seems the best option for now, to help them get a head start to buy the immediate items they need as they move back into town for the time being, and to replace items beyond what the insurance will cover. Any help is greatly appreciated.
For those who would rather contribute directly, gift cards to grocery stores, Walmart, Uber Eats, restaurants or Amazon can be mailed to 998 Onion Lake Road, Thunder Bay, ON P7G 2C3 (or contact me if you wish to send electronically). Please do not mail anything other than gift cards to the address as there is no house there or anywhere to store things. At this time, money and gift cards would be the greatest help to the family.
We want to send our heartfelt thanks to the Thunder Bay Fire Department and to the many volunteer fire fighters who worked tirelessly into the night to save what they could of the home and property. You are all incredibly appreciated and invaluable. My sister, a former firefighter herself, would like to reiterate that fire alarms truly do save lives, so please please make sure your homes are equipped with proper working alarms on all floors and in every bedroom. Without their alarm system, they may not be alive today.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for your love and support for our family. At least they are all still alive and safe, and stuff can be replaced. It will take time, but we all have each other, and that includes you. Thank you all!
Organizer and beneficiary
Eerika Cormier
Beneficiary