The Village of Caronport has rallied quickly around three families affected by a recent fire that destroyed one home and damaged two others.
Volunteer firefighters in Caronport and the Moose Jaw Fire Department responded on Feb. 10, but when they arrived, the home of Raymond Straeder-Lisa Elias was fully engulfed and could not be saved. Firefighters saved the nearby homes of Sara Barr and Rita Martin, with the fire damaging those buildings to various degrees.
Afterward, GoFundMe fundraiser pages were created for the Straeder-Elias and Barr families. A Facebook page was also established to collect belongings; within three days, residents had provided enough supplies to get the families on their feet.
The Straeder-Elias family
This has been a very difficult time for the Straeder-Elias family, especially on their mental health, Lisa Elias said. She and her spouse — they have a 2.5-year-old daughter — have been going over the situation regularly and still cannot believe they lost everything they owned.
They had just moved into that trailer home two weeks before and were still settling in when the fire erupted. They are now back in the trailer home they left.
The fire occurred when their landlord attempted to thaw the pipes under the building with a torch, and when the fire touched spiderwebs, it jumped out of control, said Elias. She arrived home from work later to find the building in rubble.
While this has been a difficult time, the community has been there for them.
“The support from the community is absolutely amazing,” Elias said. “We couldn’t ask for a better community. We’re staying friends with a lot of people who helped us. And it will be a long-term support group for us to help us through that because it was not only traumatizing for us, (but) it was traumatizing for all of Caronport (as well) to see something like that happen as quick as it did.”
The GoFundMe campaign raised more than $8,500, while residents contributed clothing, furniture, food, and other items. The couple’s employer even purchased a new bed for them.
Many people are still offering whatever they can to help the family get back on its feet, said Elias.
They are also receiving plenty of mental health support, which is important since Straeder is taking the loss particularly hard, she continued. Not only did his mother die recently, but he lost many irreplaceable childhood items. Meanwhile, she lost such sentimental items as her high school diploma and grad dress, and a 100-year-old spice rack that belonged to her grandparents.
Elias was thankful that no one died in the blaze; the family’s puppy had been staying with her sister at the time.
“We’ll be OK,” she added.
The Barr family
It has been a whirlwind of emotions and activity since Feb. 10, but life is slowly returning to normal, said Sara Barr. A single mother with four children, the front-line health-care worker has lived in Caronport since September 2019. She appreciated how quickly the community rallied around her and her kids.
“They (the kids) won’t be a fan of fires (any time soon), I can tell you that, because they watched it,” Barr chuckled. “But they’re so excited about their new bedrooms actually, and people are loving on them with gift cards … (to) go pick out a toy.”
After the fire, someone donated money so Barr and her kids could stay at the Pilgrim Inn Hotel. Less than 24 hours later, someone else handed her the keys to a new duplex. Not only did residents supply furniture and accessories, but they also filled the fridge and freezer with food.
Others washed the family’s clothes and toys, while the GoFundMe campaign eventually raised over $7,000.
It is this support that has amazed Barr and overwhelmed her emotionally.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” she said. “It’s a big reason why I moved out to Caronport, being that I was about to be a single mom and on my own with my kids.
“I have lots of friends there and I just knew that Caronport is full of incredibly generous and loving people,” she continued. “And it was almost like a gut feeling or something because here I am needing them all in a situation. And they treated me like family … .”
It’s almost poetic that something great can rise from the ashes, Barr said. She was struggling before this situation — especially since she had no financial child support — but is grateful for what they have received. The new house is better for the family, while it’s also a fresh start for them.
“I just feel really hopeful and loved on and blessed by everybody,” she added.
Barr thanked everyone for the support, including residents Joelle and Tobin Epp, who established the fundraising campaigns and Facebook page and worked tirelessly for the families.
The Martin family
Rita Martin’s home and yard will need repairs since the fire melted the home’s siding, caused smoke damaged inside, destroyed a fence, destroyed the garage, ruined the patio doors, melted the window frames and burned down a treehouse.
A Christian couple from Caronport who walked past during the fire offered to take in Martin and her dog, so she stayed with them since the blaze. This has been beneficial for her mental health since she has been able to have conversations with them.
“My mind (was) quite mixed up. I was shocked the first two days because I saw the fire happen — I saw the flames — and I thought for sure mine was gonna go down,” she said. “And we were evacuated before it got really bad.”
The firefighters managed to save her car and a motorbike in the garage, but that was it.
The community’s response has been awesome, Martin said. She has lived in Caronport for about five years, so she doesn’t know many people. Yet, she has appreciated the Christ-like support residents have given. It is that compassion that has helped her survive.
Community organizer
“I’m a community member (who) feels deeply that God provides for our needs and everything we have is ours to share,” organizer Joelle Epp said.
Epp explained that she was picking up online groceries when she saw all the offers to help the families flooding in on social media. She realized that she would be overwhelmed if she were in that situation, while she also figured the families didn’t need to deal with that.
Organizing was one way Epp could alleviate the burden the families faced, but she noted that the support occurred because everyone came together and provided food, clothing, furniture, prayers and monetary donations.
“I’m glad we were able to help these families get back onto their feet and that they were open to accepting our help … ,” said Epp. “This is truly an incredible response. There’s going to be a season of healing and processing that comes with any loss now for these families, and for anyone involved with the accident.”
Since the families’ needs have been met, Epp encouraged people to support other community groups, such as the church, the food bank, a clothes donation site, and the fire department.
