The LOVE of a Community...

Unbelievable what a fire can do to a small community over night :(

The fire took a Lawyers Office, Our largest Child Day Care Center, A Hair Salon, Dooley's (Pub), A old furniture store and many apartments. The devastation that this one large fire left upon our small community come Friday morning.

In the first picture you can see the fire from the other side of town. Looked like our entire downtown was on fire. When I found out the fire was in full swing, I could see flames and smoke from my upstairs window. I couldn't imagine how bad the fire was until the following morning when I saw the damage with my own eyes. So sad!
We had 15 fire departments which totaled to over 150 fire fighters on hand trying their best to control the flames from such brutal freezing weather which we were getting -35 that night NOT counting the wind chill. The poor firefighters were battling the hot flames but not just from such cold weather but also from sever high winds. And directly across the street sits a gas station, causing fear for everyone.

The next day, this is what we were left to see...
So sad to see so much history burn up in flames :(

And as you can see in the background there is a brick building standing. For fear if the winds switched direction, all of the buildings in the back would also have burnt. Even just the fact of some hot ashes would float in the air towards the back, would of left us into even more devastation. But lucky as we are, the firemen did everything they could to keep the flames from not going in the back. Sadly in the middle of the night, the other homes had to be evacuated due to fear.
This picture was captured by another onlooker. To me, this picture speaks itself...
So much water was used for the hours and hours of fire and with it being so cold, everything is left with sheets of ice all over. Our water level for the town was so low that we were even asked to conserve our water due to the fear of running out.
Even the flags which stand in the middle of our Broadway suffered from the heat and fire...
Just look how the water froze on all the rubble...
Another view of such a empty spot now...
The next few pictures show you what use to sit in now the piles and piles of burnt wood, bricks, furniture and so much more. This is our old furniture store which was originally built in 1862 to serve as a barrack for the Army and later became the 'American Hotel'.
A older picture that was taken in the early 1900's...
The next one is of the hair salon 'Cizo Magique' and a message therapist at the very end with apartments upstairs. You can see in the background the old furniture store continued along the back side of the salon.
The Dooley's Pub that just had been recently renovated. Notice how close the salon was to the pub???
The daycare center 'Garderie Broadway'. Again notice how the building is attached to the pub??? The owners of the daycare also lived at the very top. They made their home upstairs along with a couple of apartments.
And lastly the lawyers office. His building did NOT burn down to the ground but the fire did take his roof causing just as much damage as if it would have burnt down. All the water that was being used to control the flames from the daycare just flooded the office with it no longer having a roof.
The last photo was taken from our Canada Day's Parade. You can see all the buildings in the background. Now sits half a block of land with nothing but piles and piles of frozen wood. It just seems so odd to see...
But now onto the title of my post...Beginning first thing yesterday morning, our local radio station started a fundraiser for ALL who was affected. Their phones were ringing off the hook and people were line up the street to donate anything and everything that they could. As of 6 pm last night they had reached the $50,000 mark. WOW!!! That is unbelievable, especially giving the time of the year and with our country having such a ruff time. People really opened their hearts and came together.

Examples of donations that were received were used washer and dryers, TV's, DVD players, microwaves, dishes, beds, bedding, clothes from new to used, toys and so much more. We even had a hauling company that donated their trucks to haul and hold all of these accessories. Another company called to donate their storage sheds to place everything that was donated so once the ones who lost their homes were able to get back on their feet and find a new home they could refurnish with pretty much everything. Even artificial trees were donated so the families could at least have a tree again for Christmas. Even one person donated kittens. I cried like a baby as I listened to the radio all day. One lady that was affected by the fire went to the radio station to thank everyone coming together and helping the ones who lost everything. She was crying but then she mentioned since the fire happened so quickly and the police were forcing people out they had no time to think or grab anything. She had a couple of cats and sadly they died in the fire. I felt so bad for and like I said I was crying, then about 10 minutes later a lady called in and donated kittens.

I am telling you, there was everything that you can imagine that was donated. It makes you realize how grateful we all really are. I pray that I never ever experience a house fire because sure your articles can be replaced but really when you look around your house, how many things mean so much to you and how many things can't just be replaced?

I must run for now and get some sleep for my Tabitha has a Christmas Concert tomorrow night that she, her choir and other talented children in our neighborhood have worked so hard on this past month. All proceeds raised for this concert will be given to our local food bank and they are even asking for toys, educational toys, books, crayons, puzzles and anything else pertaining to children to get our Daycare Center back up and running. Even a local group donated their building to the Daycare Center so they still have a place for these children while the parents are off working. Imagine??? All I can say is WOW!!! Times like this I am proud to say that I am part of such a wonderful community.

I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post and kept my Community in their prayers. You all are so thoughtful!

I will be back again this week before Christmas to post the last of my pictures from my Christmas decorating.

So until next time...