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Penticton  

Fire devastates family home

A family is looking for a little bit of help after a fire devastated their home Friday night.

Sara LaRose says her family thought they put a chimney fire out with a garden hose at about 8 p.m. Friday night, but added that they took extra precautions when going to sleep later that night.

The family slept with their clothes on, ready to leave the house in case the fire reignited.

LaRose says she got about half an hour of sleep before she was awoken to the smoke detector going off again, and that's when the family of five got out of the house, which the family had been renting for about two years.

A call to emergency services, however, was no help, as LaRose was informed that her house, which is located by the Twin Lakes Golf Course, was out of the catchment area of both Cawston's and Kaleden's fire departments.

"I didn't realize we were out of the Kaleden (catchment), and that was something I should have been aware of," she said. "But again, you never think that kind of stuff is going to happen to you."

The police were sent out and the power company was called to shut off the power, but LaRose says the house was effectively left to burn.

"We had neighbours, luckily, with water trucks," she said. "But it was kind of a losing battle."

LaRose took her children to her mother's place to avoid traumatizing them any further, while her husband attempted to fight the fire with their neighbours.

Despite those efforts, all that stands on the property, now, is the garage and its contents, which LaRose says isn't something the family can live on. 

But LaRose says the family is still grateful that they were able to get out of the house in time.

"The main thing is we got out okay, we had the smoke detectors, and were able to get out of the house, grabbed a few valuables, but everything else is pretty much gone," she said.

LaRose has set up a GoFundMe campaign with a fundraising goal of $5000, asking for help the family get back on their feet again, which, as of publishing time, had raised $2215 from 23 people in about two hours, with donations going as high as $500.

"We have amazing friends and family and even strangers helping," she said. "I'm getting Facebook messages, text messages from everywhere, everybody asking how they can help us out, so it's quite amazing."

She says the outpouring of help has been heartening for the family in a time of disaster.

"It's been an emotional roller coaster but totally heart warming with everyone's offers of help and support, financially or otherwise," she said.

While the family will need to figure out their next steps to get back on their feet, LaRose says Barefoot Beach Resort has offered the family a yurt to stay in for the next couple of weeks.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen emergency services did not respond to requests for comment as of publishing time.



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