A Sechelt family is overwhelmed by the generosity of friends, neighbours and total strangers after their Tuwanek home was gutted by fire last Friday afternoon.
William Richardson was on his way back from the ferry terminal Sept. 19 where he had dropped off his wife. When he got close to home he saw the fire trucks and thought the worst.
“You are just never prepared for something like that,” Richardson said in an interview Monday morning. “We’re still in shock, but what can you do? Our boys [ages three and five] are all right. The youngest is still trying to understand things a bit, but getting back to school today certainly helps, seeing their friends and stuff. But we will be OK.”
Close friend David Hobal sprang into action shortly after the fire, putting a message out on Facebook asking the community for help.
The response was overwhelming.
“Everyone has been more than generous,” Hobal said. “My mom lost her house close to Christmas a few years ago, so I know how devastating something like this can be. I put together some clothes and stuff, but people have been offering clothing, furniture — anything to help them get back on their feet. William is such a great guy and this could not have happened to nicer people, so it’s really heart-warming to see so many people wanting to help out.”
Richardson too said he is blown away by the good will.
“It’s pretty amazing. People I don’t even know are bringing us things,” he said. “Friends have been offering us a place to stay, others have offered us temporary housing. The community help has been amazing. I haven’t had time to respond to all the messages. We just want to say thank you to everyone. It’s certainly helped to raise our spirits.”
The Sechelt fire department responded to the call in the 7500 block of Sechelt Inlet Road just after 1:15 p.m. on Sept. 19.
Assistant fire chief Trevor Pike said the upper floor of the single-family, two-storey residence was fully involved and the roof was starting to collapse by the time firefighters arrived on scene.
“The first thing we did was confirm that everyone was out of the home, which we did confirm through a neighbour,” said Pike. “We had heavy fire and exposures on both sides of the home and the fire was starting to spread to the forest surrounding the home. We hit the house with a large diameter hose to achieve knockdown of the fire, and once we had it knocked down, we used smaller hoses to extinguish the brush fire.”
Pike said there were no injuries reported.
“Thankfully we were able to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent homes and into the forest,” Pike said. “It could have meant a major interface fire, so from that standpoint, it was a good save for our guys.”
Pike said Sechelt received mutual aid from both Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek fire departments. In all, 30 firefighters responded, along with Sunshine Coast RCMP, paramedics and BC Hydro crews, who cut the power to the home.
“It is a total loss fire — basically it was a total loss upon our arrival,” Pike said. “We have not determined a cause at this point. Given the amount of damage, the fire scene is very unsafe, so it’s going to take us a few days to get back in there and continue investigating.
“At this point it does not appear to be a suspicious fire, but accidental. It’s so unfortunate for this family, but from the Sechelt Fire Department’s perspective it’s great to see the community rallying in support of a family that has lost everything. That’s what this is all about when something like this happens.”
Anyone wishing to donate can do so by dropping off at Popeye’s Storage, who have donated space, or they can call or text Hobal at 604-358-1924.
