A North Delta, B.C., couple is fighting for their lives and their family is grappling with losing everything after their home was badly damaged in a fire on Wednesday.
The fire broke out in the home at 119A Street and 92nd Avenue around 5:30 a.m.
The family says their smoke alarms failed to activate, and the occupants didn’t realize anything was wrong until a neigbhour ran over and began banging on the door.
Nashreen Jamal said that woke her father Abdul up, who she said proceeded to alert everyone in the house.
Her adult sister handed her baby girl off to a neighbour, then tried to help her father get their mother out of the house.
“He ran upstairs and because he couldn’t really see and he was so weak … he tried to bring her down the stairs and he was so weak he dropped her, and she hit her head and her neck and her back on the way down,” Jamal said.
“My sister called me, freaking out, saying I had to pull mom’s body out, I had to help,” she added.
“The house was covered in black smoke and we couldn’t see anything,” sister Jasmeen Jamal said. “My dad got everyone out of the house, and he injured himself. He’s in the hospital right now.”
Both parents are now in critical condition and being treated for burns and extreme smoke inhalation, Nashreem said. Her mother’s hemoglobin levels were so low, she required an emergency blood transfusion, she added.
Firefighters say the flames appear to have broken out in the rear of the home, but that the cause remains under investigation.
There were five occupants inside at the time.
The family says they were uninsured, and supporters have since launched a GoFundMe campaign.
“We know they are very, very strong. My dad has been a solid rock for all of us his whole life and he has to keep fighting for us, for himself. Same for my mom,” Nashreen said.
“Both of my parents are fully traumatized and we just want them to know that we are here for them and when they are back and on their feet we are going to do everything we can.”