A Dominion City family is looking to rebuild not only their home but their lives after a recent fire that destroyed their home.
The family of Richard and Paula Ewen, who also now have four foster children, all got out safely from the October 25 fire, and that is all that really matters at the moment to them.
“In 15 minutes, it’s all gone,” Paula said about a week after the fire while staying at the home of her son Christopher, who is mayor of the RM of Ritchot. “You never think it’s going to happen to you.
“At the end of the day though, it’s all just stuff, and the most important things came out of that house with me, and I just have to remember that,” she said.
The cause of the fire, which happened sometime around 5 p.m., remains under investigation, but there were suspicions it may have been connected to a boiler heating system. Richard had gone out to check on it and came back and immediately shouted call 911.
“I grabbed my two little foster babies and ran out of the house,” said Paula. “The only thing that ran through my head was to grab my babies and make sure they were safe, and I ran out of the house. That was all I thought about … I didn’t grab my purse, I didn’t grab a phone. I thought about nothing else.”
She noted then that a neighbour and friends came over and asked if everybody was out of the house, and they then turned their attention to the dogs in a kennel.
“They went running, and they saved my dogs,” she said, adding they also saved nine rescued birds. “They got them all out of the house and saved all my birds, who have now all been rehomed for now … and my son is taking the dogs, and he’s going to kennel them for now.”
Paula said it is all incredibly challenging to process, but she instead has focussed on what really matters.
“It is overwhelming,” she said.
“I worked two jobs for the last 12 years to build our big beautiful retirement life, and we bought this beautiful home,” she noted. “I worked two jobs, day and night. I worked at night; I’m a nurse.”
The following Saturday night then with everyone gathered at her son’s house again put it all into perspective.
“I walked in, and I thought the most important things in my life are right here in front of me,” she said. “Literally, you have nothing, but I’m so fortunate my children have all stepped up to the plate.”
Paula also expressed her gratitude for how the greater community have rallied to help them.
“We were so fortunate the MCC store in Morris on Sunday morning opened the doors … so we could go get clothes for the babies and the other two boys,” she noted.
“And the Roseau Valley School was incredible. They dropped off school backpacks and lunch bags for the kids because we had nothing. Everything was consumed in the fire … and they brought snacks for the kids, and the Bigway in Morris donated some snacks for the kids.
Mitzi Borodenko, who moved to Dominion City a number of years ago and is a retired Access Credit Union manager, together with a friend opened up an account for the family, and people can support by making a deposit to the account at any Access Credit Union branch.
“They lost literally everything except the clothes on their backs,” she said.
“So everybody in the community is feeling quite badly for them because they’re fairly new to our community … it is heart wrenching.”
Paula said the support for their family has been quite overwhelming.
“The outpouring of generosity from strangers has been absolutely amazing,” she said tearfully.
“It’s so touching. Your friends and family are always there, but you never expect strangers to do what they do, and people really stepped up for us, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. I just can’t believe how kind people have been,” she said.
“I feel so humbled. I think there’s people who have so much less in the world than I do,” she said. “I certainly will pay it forward in my life.
“So I said when we rebuild our home, we’re going to build it bigger … and I am going to have a huge celebration and invite all of these wonderful people to our home to celebrate because it is a home they have contributed to,” she concluded.
