The island is banding together to help a family whose house burned down on Wednesday morning.
Susanne and David Koeplin and their two children were away when a neighbour in Hood Point heard the smoke alarms in their house go off around one in the morning.
Fire Chief Ian Thompson says that the neighbour went over to the house to see if everything was okay. When she opened the door, letting oxygen, or fuel for the fire, into the house, “it blew her back.”
The neighbour suffered a fracture in her arm and burns to her face.
Thompson got the call at 1:28 and was there about 15 minutes later, with the first fire engine arriving five minutes later.
It was quickly discerned that the house could not be saved because the fire was so advanced. Concern then focused on preventing ash and sparks spreading the fire elsewhere.
One fire truck focused on dousing the flames while another sprayed water on brush and trees in the neighbourhood.
Thompson and neighbourhood volunteers went door to door to let neighbours know what was happening.
The fire chief praises the 18 volunteer firefighters who responded, not leaving until about eight in the morning. “The guys did an unbelievable job containing it to the one area.”
The house was insured and the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
In the meantime, friends have kicked into high gear to help the family, who, while insured, lost everything in the fire.
Tanya Voormeij-de Zwart, a friend of the family, writes, “the Koeplin family would like to say a heartfelt thank you for your outpouring of love and deep concern. They applaud our local firefighters for their incredible work containing the fire.
“Although their home is a total loss, it could have been so much worse! The lightning-quick response of observant neigbours in the early hours saved both their two cats as well as their neighbourhood."
The family's most pressing need is finding a place to rent. Right now neighbours are graciously sharing their home but the family would like to find a three-bedroom house, whether short term or long term, as soon as possible.
August 10 update: Fire Chief Thompson says the cause of the fire is undetermined — and likely to remain that way. The fire started somewhere in the middle of the 70-year-old building.
