Community comes together for a Sudbury family affected by a house fire

A Greater Sudbury family from the Chelmsford area says it is overwhelmed by the community support after losing everything in a house fire.

The Greater Sudbury community is rallying around a family that lost everything in a fire Thursday morning.

For the last 26 years, the Myre family called 1028 Morgan Road on the outskirts of Chelmsford home.

“I moved about 16 times up until I was 16 years old,” Bonnie Myre said.

“So to be in a place for this amount of time was really important for me, for the kids.”

Fire officials said the blaze started in the shed and quickly spread to the home.

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“I was sleeping and then I heard a ‘pop,’” said Bonnie’s daughter Sarah.

“My first initial thought was ‘Oh my gosh, I have to get my parents out of here.’”

The family said from the time they discovered the fire to the time they got out was approximately five minutes.

“I thought, ‘Oh, should I get the will? Should I get those papers?’ I’m like, no, you leave the house, that’s it,” Bonnie said.

“All the stuff that’s drilled into our heads all our lives: just get out.”

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She said when she looked out the window, she could see the whole roof aflame.

“I did not expect to see, maybe a little flicker here or there, but the whole roof was in flames,” Bonnie said.

Bonnie, her husband Ray and Sarah jumped in a car and drove down the street to the neighbours', where they were welcomed with open arms.

Sadly, the family lost their cat in the blaze.

Heard a ‘huge boom’

Stephanie Doyle is one of the Myre’s neighbours.

Doyle said she was up working at her computer when she heard “a huge boom” shortly before 4:30 a.m. and wondered what it was.

“As I walk to go to the bathroom, I see an orange hue coming from my window door,” she said.

“As I look, I see the fire at Bonnie and Ray’s. Immediately, I called 911.”

Outpouring of support

There has also been an outpouring of support from the entire community, she added.

From the Lions Club to members of their church and coworkers, the family said it is overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of everyone.

“A neighbour, he moved out of his house and gave us his house for the weekend. It’s just amazing,” Ray said.

When two young neighbours saw Ray’s four-wheeler was melted, they wanted to help.

“I want to mention, these two little boys across the street came over and put their hands in their pockets,” Bonnie said.

“They gave us their piggy bank money to replace our toys.”

No fire hydrant nearby

The family said they can’t thank the volunteer and full-time firefighters enough.

“We had crews from Chelmsford, Azilda, Dowling, Levack and from the main station here in the city core responding to that location,” deputy fire chief Jesse Oshell said.

“When they arrived, obviously, the house was fully involved with fire. The occupants were out and safe and we began our operations.”

The nearest fire hydrant is in Dowling, he said, so crews had to use a water shuttle along with tankers from Lively.

Since the fire was so significant, he said all crews could do was contain it.

“We suspect, although unconfirmed, that potentially electrical was the cause,” Oshell said.

“There was the heating trace cable used to melt snow on the roof of the shed and, obviously, there was some electrical equipment inside the shed itself.”

Because of the extent of the damage, he added it will be “difficult, if not impossible to ascertain” the exact cause at this time.

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It’s been less than 48 hours since the fire, but the Myre family is considering rebuilding.

For now, they say they are thankful to God for the protection that they were given and for moving in the hearts of the community.

An online fundraiser has been set up to support the family and has raised nearly $7,500 at the time of publication.