A family of seven is now picking up the pieces after a fire tore through their home on Hathway Road in Winnipeg Saturday night.
In a moment of panic, Dillon Hobson reportedly ran barefoot to the nearest fire station on Rothesay Street to seek help.
Firefighters arrived around 7:45 p.m. to find the house heavily damaged by smoke and flames.
Dillon Hobson and Mychaella Pratt, along with their five children, managed to get out safely but lost all of their belongings.
“I dropped groceries off at around 5:30 p.m. and gave everyone a hug and said, ‘Have a good evening,’” Larry Hobson, Dillon’s father, said. “Then about 7:30, 7:45 p.m., my phone rang and it was my son crying hysterically… he was so upset because his house had just burned down.”
The couple was too distraught to talk to the media.
The family had only moved into the home eight months ago, hoping for more room for their kids and their newborn, who’s now seven months old.
“It was a good place for them, and now it’s just gone,” Larry Hobson said.
Nick Kasper, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg, says there’s been an exponential increase in structural fires in Winnipeg.
“Fire call volumes in the city of Winnipeg have increased by 87 per cent between 2019 and 2023 and they continue to increase,” Kasper said.
The family didn’t have insurance and they’ve started a GoFundMe campaign to try and get back on their feet.
The fire department is still looking into what caused the fire. The family is not ruling out foul play.
The investigation is ongoing.