VERDUN – It was a sight Tracy Carter never expected to see on Christmas Day.
“When I went in the back I saw the flames shooting out of the roof 20, 30 feet high,” said Carter, the emotions clearly still fresh. “I said to my boyfriend: ‘get the cats and what you had and let’s get out now.'”
She is one of the 50 people who lost their home this Friday during a devastating fire in Verdun. The apartment complex now sits empty, the windows are boarded. Its residents lost it all.
WATCH BELOW: About 50 people spent Christmas on the street after a fire ripped through a six-unit housing complex in Verdun Friday evening.
“It’s a life that’s gone up in smoke literally. Literally gone up in smoke,” lamented Carter.
Moved by their loss, Verdun’s borough mayor Jean-François Parenteau turned to Facebook to ask for donations.
“I said I will send a message on Facebook and after that for sure we will receive some donations. Some,” said Parenteau.
“But it’s crazy now, with all the support of the population of Verdun,” he said, all the while admiring the room full of donations.
Using the mayor’s personal store as a base at 4718 Wellington Street, volunteers have been busy receiving and sorting through the hundreds of donations people have brought in the past hours.
“See, what happened now is a Christmas story. It’s amazing,” said Verdun borough councillor Marie-Eve Brunet.
“The community answered so well, we are really impressed.”
Boxes wrapped in Christmas paper were carefully packed with necessities and even a Christmas card tucked in.
Now they need more volunteers to help sort out the goods.
“We received a lot of clothes, we need house stuff but we need arms now to help us figure out exactly what we got,” said Brunet.
All things that victims like Carter need to start from scratch.
“We’re starting all over but it’s going to make us stronger for a new life,” said Carter.
A new life that is now being built on the foundations of their community.
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