A family of five that was burned out of their Richmond rental home earlier this week is struggling to come to terms with their new reality.
The fire ripped through their house on River Road early Monday morning, destroying much of their belongings.
The family did not have fire insurance.
Jeannie Hazelman says the silver lining is none of her family members was at home at the time of the fire, but they did lose two cats.
“Everything is replaceable except for them,” says Hazelman.
It has been a hard year for the family.
Hazelman’s husband was laid off at Christmas, and she is currently locked out of her job at IKEA.
“It’s been one thing after another. But this is a big one,” says Hazelman.
Family friend Angelina Robinson has created a fundraising page to support the family through the tough times.
She says it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for them.
“They are such positive, amazing people. They are able to find brightness in the dark,” says Robinson.
She says when it comes to helping the family financially, every little bit helps.
Hazelman says the response has been tremendous so far.
“Everybody is pulling together. I can’t even believe the response. It started before Monday was even over.”
Today, the family was allowed to go back into the house to see if anything was salvageable.
Cpl. Stephanie Ashton with Richmond RCMP told Global News they are treating the fire as suspicious.
She says they are in possession of a video that is being reviewed as evidence, and arson investigators are working on the case. The video is not being released to the public at this time for investigative reasons.
Richmond RCMP asks that anyone with information about this fire call their local police agency or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Comments