The community is coming together to help out seven University of Guelph students who lost all of their belongings in a house fire on Monday afternoon.
A GoFundMe page set up by friends of the group has already raised over $10,000 as of Wednesday afternoon and now the university has allowed them to temporarily live on campus.
Three students were home when the back of the house on Hooper Street went up in flames. Two were asleep at the time and fire officials said working smoke alarms likely played a role in saving their lives.
Flames and black smoke could be seen pouring out of the roof of the house within minutes of the fire starting at around 2 p.m.
No one was injured, but the fire and smoke caused major damage.
The Guelph Fire Department said the cause of the fire was an open flame near combustible materials, but did not get into details.
On Tuesday, the university said it has found them space in the residence system for the remainder of the semester and provided them with replacement computers.
In a statement, Brenda Whiteside, vice president of student affairs, said clothes were an issue and donations could be dropped off at the client service desk in the Athletics Centre.
The students’ need large or medium shirts, shoes (sizes: 10, 11, 11.5, 12) and pants (sizes: 30×31, 32×32, 34×34, 33×34, 30×32).
Any clothes donated and not taken by the students will be dropped off at a nearby shelter.
Whiteside said all seven students will be moving into a new place in May, but have no furniture. So they will be letting them access the furniture collected during Move Out Madness — a service that picks up unwanted bulky items from student households for free.
Whiteside added that the students are grateful to those who have already reached out to offer assistance.