BY KALISHA MENDONSA
A local family is seeking support as they navigate the aftermath of a devastating fire that occurred earlier this month.
Skye-Lynn Watts has started a GoFundMe page to help her father, Doug, and his girlfriend Sandra Durant, who lost all of their personal possessions during the fire.
The fire engulfed the house on the evening of Feb. 8th, and the family has since been working hard to rebuild their lives.
The goal is set at $10,000 and the money will help with general expenses of deconstructing the remainder of the home, clearing the property and working with electrical companies to restore power to the home lot.
“You can’t even tell there was a house on that site anymore. I went down recently with my dad and there is absolutely nothing left,” said Skye-Lynn.
The Lacombe Fire Department was called out to the fire Feb. 8th, with mutual aid requested from surrounding departments, bringing firefighters from Blackfalds, Bentley and Clive. From there, firefighters worked for more than five hours on site to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.
Fortunately all occupants of the home were safely out and were not harmed.
However, a statement from Lacombe County indicated the building was completely engulfed so a defensive attack was established to keep the fire from spreading to the surrounding trees and vehicles.
The cause has not been determined and is currently under investigation. The home was not insured for fire, leaving the Watts family stunned and struggling to move forward.
Skye-Lynn’s uncle had built the home for his mother, Skye-Lynn’s grandmother, in the late ’80s. It has been a treasured home of memories for Skye-Lynn, her cousins and their parents.
“All of our memories of our grandmother were in this house. It’s been really hard to lose that,” she said.
“Unfortunately, my dad owns a company and all of the business paperwork was in that house. He’s been slowly working to getting his documents back, and has to re-collect cheques that had been made out to him and all sorts of other kinds of documents.”
Skye-Lynn added that the weeks following the fire have been “pure chaos.”
As the family moves forward from their loss, they have reached out to the community for support.
So far, Skye-Lynn said there have been outpourings of donations, especially for clothing, that have been very much appreciated.
Now, the family is hoping to see some financial support through their GoFundMe page, which is accessible by heading to gofundme.com and searching for ‘Watts family farm/house fire’.
Skye-Lynn thanked all those who have so far contributed with kind words, monetary donations and other donations of goods.
kmendonsa@lacombeexpress.com