A Brockville-area family is dealing with a devastating loss after their home was destroyed by a fire earlier this week.
The Bakker family’s 16-year-old son, Owen, was home at the time when the house caught fire on Monday.
“He’s pretty traumatized,” says Kristi Bakker.
The Bakker’s have four children, two of whom were home at the time, along with a support worker who takes care of one of their children that has a rare genetic disability.
Owen, who was cooking at the time, tried his best to save the family home.
“He grabbed the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out,” says Bakker.
“When the extinguisher ran out, he started to grab pots of water and threw it on. When Tamara came up he was doing that, she literally had to drag him out. He was in his bare feet, but he just wanted to save his family’s home.”
Everyone was able to make it out of the house safely, except a pet cat that passed away in the blaze.
The Bakkers’ son Owen is still dealing with injuries from that night.
“He’s injured,” says Bakker.
“He was in bare feet — his feet are bruised, and he rocks and glass in his feet that had to be taken out. He now has lung issues for life because he stayed in for so long.”
Now, the family is shuffling between hotels.
Because they have a family of six, including a son with a disability who requires 24-hour care, finding a place to live is proving to be very difficult.
“Because of our unique situation, our insurance company has already told us there is nothing available for rent in Brockville,” says Bakker.
“There is nothing available on Airbnb. There’s nothing. So we have to come up with something.”
The Brockville Weslyan Church is now taking donations to help the Bakker family through this difficult time.