A Prince George family is scrambling to reunite after a fire early Monday morning forced them out of their home.
Father Chancy Henwood, 41, and sons Neno, 20, Basil, 19, and Romello, 17, are now living in separate locations following the blaze that gutted the home they had been renting in the 2900 block of Nicole Avenue.
Family friend Michelle Marrelli has issued a call for donations of money and household items to get the family back together and up on its feet. A trust account has been opened at the Spruce Credit Union on Victoria Street under "For the Chancy Henwood Family" to accept cash donations.
"Whether it's $5, $10, everything will help," Marrelli said. "If we can all come together, we can get this family back together for Christmas."
Henwood is a stay-at-home father and his common law wife, Tammy Stock, 37, works in the camps and is home for seven days each month.
They're looking for a home large enough to house the parents and three teenage boys and with a yard large enough for the two dogs who survived the fire - two others and the family cat are unaccounted for and believed to have died in the blaze.
"We need to be able to come up with help with a damage deposit, first month's rent, because as you can imagine rent has already been already paid for a house that's no longer there for them to go home to," Marrelli said.
Adding to their woes, the family didn't have contents insurance, meaning they're in need of a full array of household items.
"The house is lost - all the contents, his kitchen, the living room, the bedroom, everything from silverware to coffee cups is gone," Marrelli said.
How started the fire remains a mystery.
Chancy said he woke up sometime before 6 a.m. when he noticed flames on the back deck.
"The patio door was just shaking because of the heat," he said. "I thought it was going to blow anytime."
He roused the boys, who made it out as did one of the dogs. Basil ran back into the home and rescued another dog before the smoke became too much and he had to be taken to hospital.
Sixteen firefighters from three halls and equipped with a ladder truck and two pumper trucks responded to the call. The fire was so big a neighbouring home also caught on fire, but that blaze was quickly extinguished. Damage to the Henwood's home was estimated at $150,000.
Marrelli described the five as a good family and added that anything left over after they've settled into a new home will be donated to other families in need.
For more information on how to help out, contact Marrelli via e-mail, [email protected] or cellphone, 250-640-1179.
