A Calgary mother is struggling to stay calm after a devastating fire wiped out everything she owned. Among the things she lost were the ashes of her late son.
Trish Harris was living in a multi-unit place on 34th Avenue NE in Highland Park, where several people were forced out after what looked like an explosion early on March 23.
She said it was total chaos; the blast blew out the windows and doors, with glass flying everywhere.
Officials with the Calgary Fire Department are still working to determine what sparked the blaze.
Since the incident, Harris says she’s been overwhelmed, adding that the fire is just one more hardship in a string of losses she’s gone through recently.
Over the last five months, Harris has been hit with one loss after another; she lost her home in the fire, and before that, she lost both her boyfriend and her 28-year-old son, who died in February.
She also lost her boyfriend’s ashes in the blaze; he had passed away last fall after a brief fight with cancer.
At this point, she’s hoping things finally settle down so she can start over.
Her daughter, Samantha Ramsey, said the family was still trying to cope with her brother’s death when the fire happened. The loss of his ashes was particularly hard for everyone.
Since the fire, Harris has been moving between hotels, and for a few days she even had to sleep in her car.
She said she didn’t have renters’ insurance and was doing the best she could financially at the time.
Ramsey says it’s been tough watching her mom deal with all of this without a stable place to stay.
She wants to support her, but says she doesn’t have a home to offer or the money to cover everything.
She has still managed to get her mom some basic essentials and even started a GoFundMe to try and help her rebuild.
As of March 30, they’ve brought in over $5,000 toward their $9,000 target, thanks to support from close to two dozen people.
