A Lund family is trying to rebuild after a house fire consumed their home December 11.
Tracy Pihl, a single father, returned home with his two teenaged children to find their house engulfed in flames. By the time the fire department arrived the fire was through the roof of the 80-year-old wood-frame residence.
“When I came up over the rise and saw the glow, I just had to pull over,” said Pihl. “That last quarter mile I just didn’t want to see. It has been our family home for 48 years.”
While he was in town picking up his children, Pihl had heard from a neighbour that his house was on fire. Before he had left he filled the fireplace with wood. The family’s pets, three dogs and cats, were curled up in front of the hearth. He speculates the fire started in the chimney. It was only three months after stopping his house insurance.
“I’m gobsmacked,” he said. “You spend your life helping people and you never think you’re going to get kicked that hard.”
The family’s outside pet, a 450-kilogram pig named Baby, survived the blaze and the family found her near the house later that evening.
Pihl lost everything in the fire from his collections of coins and comic books to his toy trains, but the hardest loss to accept is his family photos. He hopes that family friends have pictures they can share of his children growing up.
Even though it’s a hard time for Pihl and his children, he said he’s glad that no one was hurt.
The community has banded together to help the family. “That’s what we do here,” said Sunny Wong, one of Pihl’s neighbours who is volunteering his time to help him transform his workshop into a new home.
“We’re well fed,” said Pihl. “People keep stopping by and bringing us food.” Dozens of neighbours have stopped by and donated their time to swing a hammer or help install the house’s electrical wiring.
The community pitched in right after the fire, first helping to sift through the debris looking for valuables that may have survived the fire.
“That went on for two or three days,” said Jim Nailer, Pihl’s neighbour from up the road. “Then we started this. We’ve been at it since last Wednesday.”
Pihl was in the middle of building his dream workshop when he ran out of money. He put the roof on it, but wasn’t able to finish the project. Now that’s being reconfigured into the family’s two-storey, three-bedroom home.
“It was my dream shop and then I got the roof on it and I was like $20,000 in the hole and I had to stop,” he said. “I’m so glad that we did it because now we’ll have a house.”
The family is staying in a neighbour’s trailer temporarily until their new house is finished. Pihl said he wouldn’t be surprised if they finish it in five weeks because of the level of support he’s received.
“We’re trying to scrape up enough materials to finish,” he said. “But we’ll have to buy some materials too.”
The Boardwalk Restaurant has donated $1,000 to help the family. Townsite Brewing is donating its Secret Santa growler dollars “to help get the family back on its feet.” The Salvation Army has been collecting donations and making a list of items that people have to donate.
A bank account has been opened at First Credit Union so that financial donations can be made. The account is called the “Emergency Fund Lund Community Society Pihl family account.”
“I learned a long time ago that crying about losing something doesn’t make it come back,“ said Pihl. “You just have to carry on and make the best of it.”
Lund fire destroys home
Community responds to family’s need
A fire has left a Lund family homeless for the holidays. Firefighters from Northside Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call of a house fire just before 6 pm Tuesday evening, December 11. The home in the 2200 block of Highway 101 near Pryor Road was engulfed with flames when firefighters arrived.
“By the time the call was put in the structure was fully involved,” said Jim Brown, Northside fire chief. “It had already gone through the roof.”
No injuries were reported. The family wasn’t home when the fire started.
“It’s pretty sad,” said Brown.
The family of five is being taken care of by Emergency Social Services.
“The fire took everything they had,” said Ryan Thoms, Powell River Regional Emergency Program coordinator. “We’re doing the best we can to get them back to normal. It’s pretty early on so a lot is yet to be determined what their needs will be.”
Using social media, word spread quickly around the community about the family’s situation.
Powell River Salvation Army is taking information from people who wish to help the family by donating money or clothes, and can be reached at 604.485.6067.
“It’s pretty early to know what the family needs,” said Salvation Army Captain Jennifer Robins. “But the community response has been awesome.” It is unknown if the family had fire content insurance for their belongings.
“We [have] set up a bank account for people to donate money so the family can buy what they need,” she said. The account is at First Credit Union called “Emergency Fund Lund Community Society Pihl family account.”
“The most practical way to help the family at this point is a financial donation,” said Robins. “We’ve already got a healthy list of people and what they have to offer.” Robins said they don’t have the space at Salvation Army and they don’t want to overwhelm the family with things they may not need at this point.
The Boardwalk Restaurant in Lund donated the proceeds from their sales on December 13 and 14 to the Pihl family.
