N.S. woman watches her rental home go up in flames. Now, she is homeless

Over the last two days, Brandy McGuire’s surroundings have changed dramatically since dealing with a tragedy most people hope they never experience.

The mother of four is currently staying in a hotel room alongside her husband and four children after a house she was renting in Lower Sackville, N.S., engulfed in flames around lunchtime on Friday. Despite the Red Cross putting her family up for 72 hours, as of Monday she’ll have to find somewhere else to stay.

She’s since launched a GoFundMe that as of Sunday afternoon had raised nearly $1,700. McGuire, who is also a graduating student at NSCC’s Institute of Technology in Halifax, said her primary concern is simple: finding a place for her family to stay.

“The kids are not loud, they just want to stay with their mom and stepfather and have a roof over their head and feel safe,” McGuire said.

“They don’t feel safe right now,” she continued. “My seven-year-old won’t keep food down because he is so stressed out. My other children aren’t sleeping very well and they weren’t even part of the fire. The fire was out when they got home so it’s not trauma from the fire. It’s being uprooted, living in a hotel, and they don’t have a place to call home.”

She said her kids, ranging between the ages of six and 11, were at school during the time of the blaze.

McGuire said she was busy doing schoolwork of her own when her husband came downstairs and notified her that a delivery for their new barbecue had arrived. As she was making her way back upstairs, she said he ran back into the house alerting her to call 911 as the deck was on fire.

She said her husband was fetching water in hopes of suppressing the flames as she was on the phone with dispatch until a bystander from outside drew attention to a nearby propane tank and urged the couple to evacuate the house.

Before she knew it, she was across the street in disbelief as flames surrounded the chimney outside of the home.

“I couldn’t believe I was watching this,” McGuire said.

“I’ve seen this on TV. I’ve never seen this happen in real life. What I watched was exactly what comes out of these TV shows.”

As for the cause of the fire, she said the fire department is still unsure, although it is believed that it started underneath the deck. She said her landlords were recently receiving quotes to begin the process of renovating the deck.

Despite the reception she’s received since launching the GoFundMe, with dozens of people reaching out to show their support, the family of six has yet to find a permanent roof to put over their heads.

“Please we have 4 children that need a home,” said Henry Eisenhauer, Mcguire’s husband, in a tweet that shared the GoFundMe link on Saturday morning.

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She said she’s received messages from people saying she should’ve protected herself by purchasing tenant insurance and although she agrees, she said she hadn’t had an opportunity to pay it yet due to multiple factors.

“I have been a full-time student. I have been dealing with kids with disabilities,” she said. “I started the process for tenant insurance, said I’d pay it on pay-day. Payday came and went, (and) I forgot about it because I had so much other stuff going on in my mind.”

As for her hunt to find a new place to stay, she said she hopes that spreading the word online will lead her and her family to locate a replacement home.

“I keep telling people, ‘If you know anyone who’s just not advertising the place yet, they don’t want to deal with the nonsense of the applications, put us forward.’ My landlord would vouch for us, no issue. We love them and they love us,” she said.

“We’re quiet people. I’m in the process of graduating and starting my career. We don’t party, my kids aren’t loud.”

McGuire said says she’s no stranger to difficulties and trauma and the challenges she’s faced over the past couple of years are just a “piece of the cake of what she’s had.”

She said she’s had no time to be anything but strong and resilient.

“My kids need me,” she said.

“In order for them to have me, I need to put a roof over their head and hold it together and try to find a place.”