A fire at a residence at Pine Tree Place caused extensive damage to the structure.
According to Malaspina Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) chief Dave Keiver, the house was a double-wide trailer and the call that it was on fire came into the fire department at 10:38 am on May 5.
“We arrived on scene and there was no one in the home, so there were no injuries,” said Keiver. “We had a small crew so we contacted Powell River Fire Rescue under the mutual aid agreement and they sent a crew out, so that worked out well. I’m really happy they came and I’m really pleased with the job they did.”
There were 10 crew on scene at the fire and no injuries to firefighters were reported.
Keiver said the house was heavily damaged by fire and the cause is still under investigation. He said the fire department planned to return to the scene to undertake its investigation and that if the insurance company wanted to send an investigator, that was up to them.
Fire crews were on scene until 3:30 pm, said Keiver, and crew members were monitoring it after that. There were a couple of hot spots found so the fire department returned around 6 pm, according to Keiver.
“It was a very difficult fire to fight,” said Keiver. “There was some structural damage from the fire and it became unstable. We were watching for a collapse and the floor was compromised, so we had to consider our safety.”
Keiver said the residents were being cared for by emergency social services and were being put up after the fire.
A GoFundMe campaign has been initiated for the fire victims. Stacie Gruntman started the campaign to help her mom and her mom’s husband, longtime residents of the region, as they navigate the loss of their home.
“Luckily, they are okay and have not been injured,” stated Gruntman on the GoFundMe page. “As they start the process of replacing the basic needs (medicines, clothing, toiletries, et cetera), these funds will help relieve the pressure of work, so they can work on healing from this traumatic event.
“They have lived in their home for over 25 years and it will take some time to rebuild their home. We are so grateful to the emergency services, the fire department and all who have reached out to offer support.”
As of 10 am on May 8, $5,065 of the $7,500 goal had been raised.
To go to the page, follow this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nd5xdn-recovering-from-loss?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer or go to gofundme.com and enter “recovering from loss” in the search engine.
