Burned-out family trying to figure out what’s next
April Kingfisher saw ash falling from the roof of her house when she looked outside.
She had shot out of bed early Monday morning after she woke to the smell of smoke, worried that something had gone wrong with one of the space heaters in the house. Her brother-in-law, James Brittain, who had babysat her four daughters and was staying at the house with his daughter Ari, helped investigate the source of the smoke.
After she saw the soot, Kingfisher looked inside for the source and noticed it was coming from her roommate’s room. She could see a glow through his cat door. She went into the room.
“It was the closet. I could see the closet, around the door was, like, shining,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
“I opened the closet door, because I thought — I don’t know why I even did it. It made it worse. And it shot all out at us.”
Kingfisher grabbed the fire extinguisher she kept beside her bed, then went for a second one from the kitchen. The fire only seemed to get worse, she said.
Brittain helped get the children out of the house.
“If James wasn’t there, I don’t think I’d have my kids with me today,” she said.
Once outside, she realized her dog, Bruno, a chihuahua/pomeranian mix, was still inside. She called to him and tried to save him, but Brittain got her to leave for her own safety.
Kingfisher said she doesn’t remember what happened after that. Within minutes, the fire destroyed the Strathcona Avenue house in Corman Park.
When Saskatoon firefighters arrived at the scene after 5 a.m., they found the family already outside and thick smoke and flames shooting from the burning structure. A half-full tank of diesel at the side of the house was a cause for concern, so they set up a collapse zone.
Water tankers shuttled in water, while technicians shut down the utilities. Crews were rotated out and additional trucks sent because of the bitterly cold conditions.
Kingfisher said she has been back to the scene to call out for Bruno, but only the foundation of the house, the deck and one empty outdoor freezer are left. Another outdoor freezer, which she had filled with food in the days before the fire, had melted.
The family of five lost irreplaceable items: blankets handmade by Kingfisher’s great aunt for each of the girls, embroidered with their names; ultrasound images; hospital cards and photos. Her late grandmother’s dresser, full of childhood memories, is gone.
Kingfisher was renting part of the house and had no renters’ insurance. She said her roommate, a musician, lost his instruments.
Her daughters — Madison, eight, Mackenzie, five, Mikayla, four and Mya, one, are now staying with their father at his parents’ house in Prince Albert.
The Red Cross gave Kingfisher a Walmart voucher, which she used to buy her daughters clothing. The organization also gave her diapers for the baby and a three-night hotel stay, but they will have to check out by 11 a.m. Thursday.
She’s working on what happens next.
Her mother is moving from Debden to an apartment in Saskatoon, but it’s too small for six people.
One of Kingfisher’s friends launched a Gofundme campaign, which by Wednesday afternoon had raised $140 of the $5,000 goal to get the family back on their feet. Phoenix Promotions has turned its Feb. 15 Anti-valentine’s event at PABCO in Prince Albert into a fundraiser for them.
Kingfisher said the one thing she wants more than anything is for her children to feel safe.
“It’s so traumatizing for them. They’re scared. I just want them to feel safe in a home.”