Mark and Hannah Kornafel are hanging on tight to the personal belongings that they were able to save.
Just over a week ago, their Saint-Lazare home that Mark built nine years ago, went up in flames.
Hannah was at home, getting ready to head out when she heard a noise in her living room.
“I peeked in and the top window blew in and then I saw like a golden orange glow on the side of the house,” said Hannah Cracower-Kornafel. “Then the flame found oxygen and flew into the house.”
Cracower-Kornafel says after she fled, it took minutes for the flames to engulf their family home.
“I just watched my whole house disappear,” she said.
The family believes the fire may have started in their fireplace.
The couple, their two daughters and two stepchildren are all safe — but they lost a lot.
Though the family has insurance, a friend started a Go Fund Me campaign, to help the family get back on their feet.
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In just one week, it raised over $13,000 and counting.
“So many people are asking, ‘What can I give you? What can I help with?’ and I just can’t answer it, we just need everything,” said their daughter, Emily Kornafel. “It’s just amazing how everyone is helping us out so much.”
The family says they’re so grateful and humbled by the help, they’re already thinking of ways to pay it forward.
“We don’t know how to repay everyone, but we’re going to somehow,” said their daughter Madeline Kornafel. “We’re going to give back in some way, we have to.”
Until then, the family is slowly getting back to normal.
They’re currently renting a home until they get their lives back together.
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