A 70-year-old man in Keremeos, B.C. who is already suffering from complications related to heart surgery is now dealing with the partial loss of his home and business in a fire.
Normand Lavallee, who operates his business — Norm’s Carpet Care and Upholstery — out of his home said the fire broke out at 608 4th St. in Keremeos around 9:15 a.m.
Lavallee said he was at the South Similkameen Health Centre in Keremeos Monday morning having a lump drained on his heart when he was alerted to the fire. No one was home at the time.
“If we would have been in the house I think we would have passed. The smoke, it was instant,” he said in a phone interview.
The quick action of firefighters resulted in most of the residence being saved, although there is smoke and water damage. The fire was contained to one room.
“It’s pretty bad, the whole room is gone and the hallways and the smell everywhere and smoke all over,” he said.
Lavallee said the house is not habitable and they’re looking for a rental unit until they can have further discussions with their insurance company about next steps.
He said he lost all of his carpet cleaning equipment in the blaze, as well as personal items.
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“My clothes and my wife’s clothes, we were using that room for storage and whatever is in that room and outside of the room because they water everything and it’s all gone,” he said.
Lavallee said he underwent triple bypass surgery in 2014 and continues to be on antibiotics due to complications.
“I had a really hard time and I was 75 days in Kelowna hospital and they shipped me to St. Paul’s for 12 days and I had a bad infection and now the infection came back.”
He said the destructive fire adds salt to the wound.
“It’s a triple whammy, I broke my neck in 2000, I’m lucky to be alive but it’s been pretty rough since.”
The Keremeos fire department said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
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