Local community supports Burnaby family displaced by fire

Burnaby, B.C. -

It's been a difficult few weeks for a Burnaby family whose home was destroyed by a fire earlier this month.

Now displaced, Allison Wale, a single mother of three, feared she and her children would be stuck outside in the cold without a place to stay, but thanks to the generous support of the local community, they have a roof over their heads for Christmas.

Wale looks back at the pictures and videos she captured that dark December evening. Her apartment was covered in soot and all her family's belongings were destroyed after a fire ripped through part of her building.

"It was pretty horrible and unsettling. At that moment, we didn't think we could make it out. When we finally hit the other side of the fire door, it kind of set in. We're losing our home," she said.

"The whole situation is very scary," said Phoenix Apperloo, Wale's 17-year-old son. "There's a lot of uncertainty and new challenges we've never had to face before."

Now Wale, her three-year-old son Cypress, her daughter Ashpee – who has cerebral palsy – and Apperloo can all stay at a local Accent Inn for free until January. The shelter is available thanks to donations from strangers, including the Burnaby Firefighters Charitable Society.

The South Burnaby Legion Branch 83 also donated $1,500 for the family to purchase essentials that were destroyed by the fire.

"It's a little surreal," said Wale. "It's amazing. I'm emotional. It's clear that we aren't alone."

"If you've got the money to make a donation, please do so between now and the end of the year. It's important that these community organizations are supported so that they can continue to provide that valuable support for families," said New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian.

Wale said she is grateful for all the donations, but her search for permanent housing continues.

"It's really hard being a single Indigenous woman with three kids and two cats," she said. "It's really difficult to find someone who will take all of us."

But Wale says she's hopeful, and part of that hope comes from how strangers have already helped so much.