A family of six is homeless and devastated after a fire at their home in Searsville, N.B., on Saturday that claimed the life of the family dog, Penny.
Fire crews were called to Eric and Ashley Vinet’s home at approximately 5 p.m., following a kitchen fire in the couple’s rural home.
“The worst part of it was, you know, it’s something a kid shouldn’t see, no family should see or go through,” explained Eric Vinet, a father of four.
Vinet says his oldest son, who had been watching the stove, had come out of the home yelling about a fire as his parents and siblings fed the animals in the barn.
But Vinet says the fire spread quickly as he ran into the burning house to save the family’s pets, a bird, cat and a dog.
That’s when he discovered his 12-year-old son was stuck upstairs, paralyzed in shock.
“Had I not went up for the bird at that time we would have realized, hey, he’s up there and we could be probably in a hospital right now, or worse,” said Vinet.
While the family made it out unscathed, their dog Penny died in the fire.
Their oldest son Gage is still wrestling with how quickly the fire spread.
“It was like the sound it makes in a cartoon when something suddenly catches fire. And I turned around and it was almost touching the ceiling,” explained Gage Vinet.
The house is insured by the landlord but the family didn’t have tenants insurance. That, however, hasn’t stopped New Brunswickers from coming forward with clothing and other necessities for the family.
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The family even started a Go Fund Me Page in hopes of covering the basic necessities.
“The things we lost, I can deal with something like that. For the kids, it must be a little harder, of course, but they really can’t understand the full force of it,” said Gage Vinet.
“At the end of the day we lost a lot of personal… well, everything, but at the end of the day, I’m just happy I have my wife and children,” explained Vinet.