A trust fund has been set up at First Credit Union to support Noella Dechaine, whose Glacier Street apartment caught fire April 29.
The 87-year-old lost almost everything in a fire that was believed to have started by spontaneous combustion of laundry. She was pulled out of the apartment by the Glacier Apartments maintenance worker. “The only way he could see it was her was by her feet,” said her daughter Jacqueline Logan. “She was trying to put it out.” Both Dechaine and the maintenance worker were treated for smoke inhalation by BC Ambulance Service paramedics on scene.
Logan was told that the fire began in her mother’s laundry. She said her mother had just taken her laundry out of the dryer and had it in a basket. The laundry was very hot. She placed the basket at the foot of her bed to cool off then left the room and closed the door.
Powell River Fire Rescue chief Dan Ouellette confirmed that the fire began in the laundry basket and spread to the bed. While it sounded unusual, it was possible, he said.
Ouellette added that the risk of fire increased depending on the material being dried and whether it had come into contact with cooking oil or other combustable material.
Dechaine had no rental insurance on her belongings. She left the building with nothing. Her purse was retrieved by a firefighter and her wallet and its contents were unaffected by the fire.
Anyone wishing to donate funds can visit First Credit Union and ask that money go into the trust fund for Noella Dechaine, donation account number 485516.
