A month after Penhold's Wild Rose Manor fire that devastated the lives of up to 30 residents, many have bravely taken their first steps to rebuild their lives while others still face stressful uncertainty.
“I am still homeless. I have not being able to find a place. I have no clothes except two pairs of jeans and T-shirts,” said 53-year-old Christina Howard.
But then there is Dean and Kritika Junck, a young couple that exchanged wedding vows on April 26 in Calgary -- on the promise that love will overcome any adversity.
“We are trying to reboot our life,” said Kritika. “Our whole apartment was engulfed in fire before the roof collapsed and we lost everything.”
The April 10 fire at Wild Rose Manor was the worst disaster in the town's history, at least since the 1980 blaze that destroyed a wooden country grain elevator. But that structure did not house people. Last month's blaze turned the lives of 30 residents upside down.
The town rallied to support the displaced citizens with clothes, food and support. Thousands of dollars were raised. Cheques were delivered. However, all victims have been forced to start their lives all over again.
Rob Allan moved to Penhold from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. last summer. He came with his partner Carol Callahan who had been transferred to the area by her employer Wal-Mart. They ultimately moved into Wild Rose Manor, hoping the modest rent at the building would enable them to save money to buy their dream home.
At about 6 p.m. on April 10, Allan came home to pick up Callahan so they could go together to look at a new vehicle in Red Deer.
“We hadn't even got to the Fas Gas at the edge of town when I looked in the mirror and saw smoke behind me,” said Allan. “By the time we hit Red Deer it was really going and our neighbours called me and said the apartment building is on fire.”
Like every other resident at Wild Rose Manor, they had to endure the destruction of everything they owned. Worst of all the couple's two beloved cats perished.
“We finally get a home. We struggled, been through good times and bad times and we figured we were finally on the straight and narrow, and finally heading towards our dream of owning our own home, and poof, and in an instant, we are back to Square 1 again,” said Allan.
Today the couple lives in a holiday trailer in Red Deer. They are not looking for another rental unit. As challenging as the circumstances are, the couple is trudging forward – saving their money towards their dream of buying their own home.
“We are figuring by the end of August we should have about $7,300 saved up for a deposit,” said Allan. “This is not what anybody plans. It is stressful and it puts a real test and strain on a relationship.”
Meanwhile, the young Junck couple have found a new home in Red Deer. Their rent is higher than what they were paying at Wild Rose Manor, a clear sign their new married life together will bring financial challenges.
“You think of the expenditures and how long it took to get a couch, a television or a bed and things for the kitchen,” said Kritika. “You think about all the things we lost and how long it took us to get that together and now we have to rebuild that and do it a lot quicker than beforehand.”
But they do have a home. Many others still do not. Christina Howard is still looking for one, and she hopes the day comes soon when she won't wonder whether a night's sleep might have to be in her car.
“I am going to counselling and I am dealing with it but a lot of people are not. It is eating them alive right now because they are not dealing with it,” said Howard, who has often visited the site of the burnt-out Wild Rose Manor and reflected how her life was so dramatically changed so quickly.
“I went out there last week and looked down and saw two pieces of paper on the ground,” she said. “I thought this was odd and one was a photo of my aunt and another of my ex-husband and I when we were younger.
“They were still in good shape, nothing wrong with them,” she added with a thought of what once was, including her life just one short month ago. “I wonder how much stuff was actually salvageable that was buried under and then just taken away.”
For anyone wanting to connect with the displaced citizens from the April 10 Wild Rose Manor fire in Penhold visit the Facebook page “Penhold donations (help the families)”.
