A devastating house fire last month has left a Princeton couple without a home, but they are still feeling grateful due to the overwhelming support from friends and even strangers.
On Feb. 23 at 7:43 a.m., the Princeton Volunteer Fire Department was paged out to a structure fire along Old Hedley Road and responded with one command engine, two pumpers and a water tender. The fire had a well-seated start, according to Fire Chief Rob Banks, and it consumed the centre section of the home and addition.
The house belonging to Stella Holliday and Ray Clements was completely destroyed and is considered a total loss. Fortunately, they were both at their eldest son Bradley's home in Victoria when the fire occurred.
"Due to the heavy fog, this fire went unnoticed for a while, [and] therefore a defensive attack was established," Banks explained. "The fire had considerable amounts of fuel, and mutual aid was established with help from Keremeos for manpower, Erris for tender operations and Tulameen to provide fire protections."
All fire crews left the scene at 2 p.m. and departments returned to their respective towns. Banks said the fire is still under investigation and the cause of the fire is still unknown.
A few photo albums and scrapbooks were recovered, with some photos still in perfect condition.
"Katie-Jo Sutton and Jamie McLeod, Princeton volunteer firefighters, saved several photo albums, and we would like to publicly thank them for bringing burning scrapbooks of photos out of the fire," Holliday said. "Some are so badly burnt that there is nothing recognizable, but the saved photos included both our sons' baby pictures and albums of my mum and dad going back to the early 1900s."
Some documents in a filing cabinet also survived with burnt edges, such as wills, power of attorneys and birth certificates, but everything else was destroyed, including Clements' personal paintings and valuable art collection, irreplaceable family heirlooms and memorabilia, and everything digital such as computer files and documents.
"With their limited means, my parents put so much of their skills, love, labour, blood, sweat and tears to make this modest house into their forever home," Bradley stated in a Facebook post. "Starting over is hard to imagine.
Bradley added that his father had built an art room full of his own art and artwork from friends and mentors, as well as valuable pieces which would have been worth five figures on the market. As a working-class artist, Clements was unable to afford expensive art insurance.
Bradley also added that his mother had established an extensive and flourishing garden which they lived on and shared generously.
"I am a bit dazed by the prospect of the loss of everything that was in this house," Bradley stated. "Our few special family heirlooms, photos, travel souvenirs from our sailing days, my mom's decades of rigorous journals, my dad's collections of paintings, the list goes on."
Bradley started a Freefunder campaign the day after the fire to help his parents, and the $15,000 goal was raised in two weeks, thanks to family, friends and strangers.
"People who don't know us and even people my son doesn't know contributed," Holliday said. "The response from the community is what touches us the most and is sincerely appreciated, even if we haven't accepted much in the way of physical items as we have nowhere to store much."
A total of 107 people donated to help reach the donation goal, and many more in the community have offered to help, from physical labour to a sympathetic ear, to even a piano.
"A heartfelt thanks to Jody Woodford, Rod Dixon and the Tulameen Fire Department for the generous gift of a laptop," Holliday said. "It has been a godsend with so much to do online, some of which are impossible or beyond my technical ability to do on a cellphone."
Holliday and Clements are still living on their own property in a motorhome from their friend, and are currently looking at buying or renting one as they go through insurance hoops and plan a new house. Most of their time now is absorbed with lists, charts and papers for insurance purposes, but Holliday wants everyone to know that they appreciate all the help and constant support.
"Thank you Tulameen Fire Department for attending the fire along with Princeton, Erris and Keremeos Volunteer Fire Departments, and thanks to those who have donated and offered assistance of all kinds," Holliday said. "This kind of generosity is what brings emotions to the surface more than anything else."
