Five families who were left with just the clothes on their backs after a fire in Perth-Andover, N.B., are getting a little help from the community.
Reverend Michael Fredericks awoke the morning of Christmas Eve to learn that several members of his community had been left without a home.
"I knew the building, I knew the owner of the building and I immediately thought, 'Boy, the church needs to do something here, it's Christmas Eve," said Fredericks.
So he opened the doors to his church and put a call out on social media for donations of household items, clothing food, and money.
"Our church service was finished at 11:30 that morning and I was shaking hands and people were going out the door, [then] people started coming in," he said.
The church has been able to raise about $5,000 for the affected families and had 12 tables filled with household items, clothing, and food.
"I was talking to one of the victims who said 'Yeah, the clothes I'm wearing right now still smell like smoke, that's all I got,'" said Fredericks.
Five families
The building was home to five families and the ground floor was an insurance business, owned and operated by Al McPhail.
The tenants of the apartments were a young couple with a seven-month-old baby. There was also an elderly man and woman, a man in his 50s and another couple.
The Perth-Andover Baptist Church stepped up after five families lost everything in an overnight fire on Christmas Eve. (Perth-Andover Baptist Church)
The church was able to provide items to all the tenants, including the young mother and her son.
"She was very grateful in tears, she even came back to our Christmas Eve services to thank us," said Fredericks.
The fire
The fire, which started around 4 a.m. Sunday, could be seen from a distance as large flames billowed from the landmark building on Main Street.
All the tenants managed to escape and one man had minor injuries, according to RCMP.
The Perth-Andover fire department and at least five other departments from neighbouring communities were brought in to fight the blaze.
McPhail, the building's owner, said he was worried for his tenants because they had lost so much.
"The church needs to do something here, it's Christmas Eve."
- Reverend Michael Fredericks, Perth-Andover Baptist Church
The RCMP and the fire marshall are investigating the cause of the fire and McPhail said he has been in touch with his insurance company.
He said it is too soon to tell whether or not he'll rebuild and for now he is focused on starting again and helping his tenants do the same.
