VICTORIA - A mother and her five-year-old daughter were in their Sidney house on Saturday when they thought a tree fell through their roof.
Janine Taverner looked outside her window and instead of a tree, she saw flames and smoke coming from their garage.
“It’s heartbreaking, their lives are in that home,” said Sheri Swan, a close family friend.
Mike Harman, deputy chief at Sidney Fire Department said the mother, daughter and family dog were able to get out of the house safely.
Firefighters from both Sidney and North Saanich arrived to the home off Beacon Avenue West just after 4 p.m. to find large flames and heavy smoke.
“We grabbed our water supply and we hit the fire with our deck gun and knocked it down,” said Harman. “We probably had the fire contained and under control within about 20 minutes."
The fire is not believed to be suspicious and started in the garage.
“Definitely some water and smoke damage inside the home,” said Harman.
Janine, her husband Bob and their daughter are all staying in a hotel now and are hoping to find temporary housing.
Friends are now trying to help the family rebuild, as they lost everything.
“It was really hard to watch one of my closest friend’s house burn,” said Swan through tears. “But knowing they were able to get out safely … They have each other.”
The family, who moved to Sidney just over a year ago, has tenant insurance and was expecting to learn about their coverage from an insurance adjustor Monday.
Firefighters were able to rescue the daughter’s hamster from the house late Saturday night.
“This is a family that would have given their shirts off their back to anybody,” said Swan.
People can drop off donations for the family at Sidney Elementary School or donate to their GoFundMe campaign here.
