Norton, N.B., fire that displaced 13 remains under investigation

Fires destroyed a pair of buildings in Norton, N.B., last week.

There is still no official word on what caused a multi-building fire in Norton, N.B., late last week.

Fire crews first arrived at a structure on Perkins Drive around 7:38 p.m. Thursday evening. The high winds caused the fire to spread to an apartment building next door which is no longer standing. Crews were able to stop the fire from spreading to a second apartment building just metres away, but it is likely to be demolished as a result of serve smoke damage.

In the days following the fire Valley Waters Mayor Randy McKnight confirmed that some fire apparatus like hoses were damaged in the fire. A full list of what was damaged is still being compiled.

In total the fire displaced 13 people, including four children.

Catelyn Hayes, along with her husband and four-month-old son, were living in the building that remains. She recalls the night as being “quick and chaotic” but admits there wasn’t a whole lot to see due to the thick smoke.

She says on the night of the fire, members of the community came out in droves to support those impacted by the fire. It has only ballooned in the days following with mass donations being made to all those displaced.

“I’m just incredibly grateful for the community, family and friends,” she says. “I’m blown away by it all.”

On Saturday the municipality converted its council chambers to a donation drop off hub for those in the community looking to help.

By Sunday afternoon, McKnight says they had received more donations of clothing, toys, and personal items then they could have imagined. The municipality is no longer seeking donations of clothing but still welcome cash, gift cards and other items with more information available through their social media channels.

He says he has gotten calls from people as far as Fredericton looking to help anyway they can.

“There aren’t many good news stories out there and this is one of them,” says McKnight on the community rallying out the impacted residents. “This community has always all pulled together in times of need for families and so on. I was overwhelmed, but at the same time not surprised by the response.”

Roxanne McKnight, who is the wife of the mayor, took it upon herself to step up and take the help of the group of volunteers sorting through donations.

She says those who have come and collected new clothes after losing everything are overwhelmed by the community’s generosity. She jokes however, that it has been quite the endeavor sorting through the donations, which at one point piled nearly to the ceiling.

“It is a challenge,” she says. “You have to hold every piece up and look at it and say, ‘hey, what size is this? Does it have any stains? Does it have all the buttons? Does the zipper work?’ All that kind of stuff.”

The surplus of donation items that went unclaimed will be donated again to various organizations like the Salvation Army.

“I’m extremely proud,” say the mayor on his municipality’s response. “I’ve got an entire community behind us, 5,000 people strong that are supporting each other and that’s simply amazing.”

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