A Burnaby couple has lost all of their belongings, including baby items, in a fire that ripped through their house earlier this week.
The fire started in a four-suite duplex on Halifax Street Tuesday afternoon. Twenty-nine-year-old Kristen Sundevic, who is 35 weeks pregnant, had skipped her afternoon nap to prepare a bag for her hospital stay when she heard a woman outside yelling to check if she needed any help.
Sundevic ran outside and saw smoke coming out from her neighbours’s suite, so she ran to grab a fire extinguisher, but by the time she was back, the flames were shooting out of the suite. Sundevic went back to her unit to grab her cat and dog and called 911.
Thankfully, Sundevic and her baby were ok, but her neighbour, who tried to put out the fire himself, sustained bad burns and was taken to hospital.
Sundevic says although the fire did not spread to their unit, there is a smoke damage and asbestos contamination in their home, and all of their belongings are gone, including the items they have already purchased for their baby son.
The couple moved from downtown Vancouver to Burnaby in August to have more space for the baby.
This is their first child. Sundevic was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year and had surgery, but was able to get pregnant earlier this year.
She says she is very grateful to have escaped the fire. “Had I been sleeping, I may have died,” she says.
Sundevic and her husband are now looking for a new home.
The couple had no tenant insurance and was just in the process of doing the inventory of their belongings.
“We had everything collected for our baby, but now we have to start from scratch,” says Sundevic.
A fundraising page has been set up to help the family replace their belongings. More than $1,700 has already been raised.
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