Flames that consumed a Peachland home Apr. 20 are believed to have killed four pets belonging to a woman who lived in the home.
The fire was a total loss for Amy Hansen and her landlord, who lived on the lower floors of the hillside home.
“It’s so crazy,” Hansen told Global News. “I never thought this would happen to me.”
Hansen had walked her three Pomeranians Pup Pup, Peaches and Frankie that morning along Somerset Ave.
And before leaving for the gym after lunch, she said, she stopped at the smell of a bonfire coming from the neighourhood.
“Who’d be having a bonfire right now?” she recalls wondering, but did not look further for flames.
Hansen left the house, leaving the three dogs and her two six-year-old Himalayan cats, Bobo and Lucifer, inside.
While preparing to begin her workout, Hansen got the shocking phone call about the raging fire at her house.
“I came back to see the house was pretty much burned,” she said. “Peaches is the only pet that got out.”
Hansen’s landlord kicked down the front door to escape the flames and Peaches was the only animal that escaped behind him, she said.
“I’m sure the others hid,” Hansen said.
And while Hansen said there is a chance the other animals ran into the neighbourhood, there has yet to be any sign of them.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Hansen did not have content insurance.
“I never got it because you never think that you need it, right?” she said.
Friends have started a GoFundMe page to help her get back on her feet.