A Williams Lake family is still uncertain where they will live after a house fire on Fourth Avenue on Dec. 18.
The Cariboo Friendship Society, which owned the house, has set up a Go Fund Me to try and help the Haller family, who did not have renter’s insurance for their belongings and won’t be able to live in the fire-damaged house.
Rosanna McGregor, executive director of the Cariboo Friendship Society, said the suspected cause of the fire is an electrical wiring issue, and the organization’s insurance provider has said the home sustained an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 worth of damage.
The organization has no vacancies in the 96 rental properties they own in the community, so McGregor said they cannot offer the family another place to live. She hopes some one will know of a vacancy and be able to help the displaced family.
Without insurance, the province’s 72-hour Emergency Social Services kicked in to provide a hotel room for the family, but the short-term assistance would have left the family covering the cost themselves over Christmas. Tl’esqox First Nation (formerly Toosey First Nation) stepped in to cover the cost until Jan. 3, 2024 so they had a place for the holidays.
Chester Haller, his wife Trena Haller, and two children Skylar and Roxy, sifted through the contents of the burnt home to try and salvage what they could from the smoke-damaged building. Framed family photos and wrapped Christmas gifts were pulled from the burned-out home, all black with soot. They are still sorting through much of what they pulled from the home on Dec. 21.
The Hallers had lived in the house since the 90s, bringing their daughter Roxy, now 25, home to live there when she was just a baby.
Standing in front of the house when they were recovering what they could, Chester held back his emotions as he explained how he had been in Kamloops, taking his wife to a medical appointment, when the fire happened. His neighbour called him to tell him about the fire.
His son Skylar was at home alone sleeping, when he woke up in the basement to smoke filling the room from the top down.
“He had to crawl on his belly to get to the door,” he said of Skylar’s escape from the burning home.
While most of their belongings are believed to have been destroyed by smoke damage, including mattresses, clothing, bedding, towels and more, they did save some of their wrapped gifts and rewrapped them in time for Christmas.
In addition, Trena, an early childhood educator, had collected some gifts for the early childhood education program participants at Tl’esqox First Nation (formerly Toosey First Nation). The gifts were black with soot.
Despite the tough circumstances, Chester was grateful.
“We’d really like to thank Evan (Dean, fire chief), and the Williams Lake Fire Department for making sure the whole thing didn’t burn right down,” he said.
Chester was also grateful for the help of the Cariboo Friendship Society in creating a Go Fund Me and offering to take in donations for the family.
For Christmas, Chester said the family went to dinner at his daughter Ashley’s house, who also lives in town.
Chester said his band, Tl’esqox, may be able to provide them a home on-reserve once the support runs out for the hotel room in town. He said the family will be needing to find beds in order to move in if they are provided accomodation.
The Cariboo Friendship Society is asking for monetary donations for the family.
People can drop off cash or cheques to the Cariboo Friendship Society, donate online via the Go Fund Me at: https://gofund.me/8fe7efa5. The society can also receive e-transfers to admin@cfswl.ca with the memo “Haller donation” to ensure it is allocated appropriately.
READ MORE: Williams Lake firefighters respond to house fire in the city
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