- R
Early Wednesday at about 4:20 in the morning, my apartment building caught fire. While all the tenants were able to evacuate to safety, we've lost everything in the fire. I lived with three other people, my best friends, Tyler, Jessica, and Tyler's 16 year old son, Kyle. We got out with our pets in small emergency evacuation crates, and the clothes on our backs.
The fire happened on the opposite side of the building from where our unit was, but our unit suffered severe damage from smoke, flooding, and asbestos which we weren't told was in the walls when we signed our lease. Because of this and structural damage to the entire building, we've been told that we won't be able to try and salvage any of our stuff.
Only one unit out of over 40 in the building had renter's insurance. Many other units including ours were in the process of setting up insurance, but weren't able to complete the process in time. We lost computers, gaming systems, clothes, pet supplies, crafts and artwork, irreplaceable family photos and heirlooms, large collections of figurines and books that took us decades to put together, and much more.
Our immediate need is housing, though once we can secure that, we'll need to try and start rebuilding our lives. Tyler is disabled, and Jessica and I have been working on our Canadian immigration and so are currently limited in what sort of aid and work we can get, especially with the covid-19 crisis.
Locals in our community have been generous in donating clothes, but we will still have a lot to replace such as computers for the four of us, tanks, cages, and supplies for our pet rats and reptiles, documents such as identifications and passports, basic household supplies, and anything from our collections and craft and art supplies that we can find again. I don't know how much it would cost to replace everything that can be replaced, but we will be grateful for any help we can get to try and rebuild our lives. Any funds we receive will be put towards payments on a new place to live, replacing what we've lost, and if we are able to raise more than we need for ourselves, we will happily donate the extra towards other families affected by the fire.
Linked are a couple news articles about the situation.
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/more-than-85-displaced-by-campbell-river-apartment-fire-1.4888261
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/tenants-displaced-by-campbell-river-fire-say-landlords-won-t-rent-to-them-1.4897178
The fire happened on the opposite side of the building from where our unit was, but our unit suffered severe damage from smoke, flooding, and asbestos which we weren't told was in the walls when we signed our lease. Because of this and structural damage to the entire building, we've been told that we won't be able to try and salvage any of our stuff.
Only one unit out of over 40 in the building had renter's insurance. Many other units including ours were in the process of setting up insurance, but weren't able to complete the process in time. We lost computers, gaming systems, clothes, pet supplies, crafts and artwork, irreplaceable family photos and heirlooms, large collections of figurines and books that took us decades to put together, and much more.
Our immediate need is housing, though once we can secure that, we'll need to try and start rebuilding our lives. Tyler is disabled, and Jessica and I have been working on our Canadian immigration and so are currently limited in what sort of aid and work we can get, especially with the covid-19 crisis.
Locals in our community have been generous in donating clothes, but we will still have a lot to replace such as computers for the four of us, tanks, cages, and supplies for our pet rats and reptiles, documents such as identifications and passports, basic household supplies, and anything from our collections and craft and art supplies that we can find again. I don't know how much it would cost to replace everything that can be replaced, but we will be grateful for any help we can get to try and rebuild our lives. Any funds we receive will be put towards payments on a new place to live, replacing what we've lost, and if we are able to raise more than we need for ourselves, we will happily donate the extra towards other families affected by the fire.
Linked are a couple news articles about the situation.
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/more-than-85-displaced-by-campbell-river-apartment-fire-1.4888261
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/tenants-displaced-by-campbell-river-fire-say-landlords-won-t-rent-to-them-1.4897178