A woman in North Bay, Ont., is mourning the loss of her husband after a devastating collision on Highway 400 on Tuesday.

The pileup triggered a massive fire, killing 37-year-old truck driver Benjamin Dunn and two others who have yet to be identified by police.

Nikiyah Mulak-Dunn’s husband was on the job at the time of the collision. Mulak-Dunn says Benjamin usually checks in regularly while on the road, so she feared the worst when she heard about the pileup and had yet to hear from him.

“Quickly my mind was racing and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness -- Barrie, that’s exactly where he would be at that time,’” Mulak-Dunn told CTV Northern Ontario.

The couple has nine children together, all of whom are between the ages of one and 16 years old. 

“It’s just so hard to fathom my children don’t have their daddy around. They already miss him so much,” Mulak-Dunn said. “Just the everyday routine, the way he would come in after work . . . He’d walk in the house and they’d all run to him . . . and they’re not going to have that anymore.”

In addition to working as a trucker, Dunn balanced two other jobs as a welder and a miner. He was the family’s sole breadwinner. People from the North Bay community shown support for Mulak-Dunn and her family in the form of cards, food, and financial aid. 

“I’m just so overwhelmed I can’t even keep up with the messages and the cards and the food,” Mulak -Dunn said. “Our family is just so taken aback by everybody’s love and support, and we’re just overwhelmed and so, so grateful.”

Friends, family, and community members have also been stopping by Mulak-Dunn’s home to offer their condolences and in-kind assistance through this difficult time. 

“I want to get her specific needs . . . So that people are giving smart,” Dana Parker Force, a close family friend, told CTV Northern Ontario. 

A GoFundMe page has been launched to help Mulak-Dunn and her kids. Grief counsellors have also visited the family’s home. 

“I just miss his voice . . . our family is different now so I just miss that,” Mulak-Dunn said. “I don’t know how we’re going to get through it, but we will.”

With a report from CTV Northern Ontario’s Shay Galor and files from The Canadian Press