Family of 13, including 8 kids, displaced after Nanaimo house fire

A young Nanaimo family, including eight children, had to flee their home Tuesday night after it became engulfed in flames.

The fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. Flames and smoke could be seen for kilometres away.

Fire and ambulance crews responded to the structure fire in the 100-block of Doric Avenue.

A neighbour of the home tells CHEK News they could hear someone screaming ‘fire fire!’, and those living nearby also evacuated their homes.

The family of 13 is a foster family and includes eight kids ranging in age from infants to teenagers. Members of the family told CHEK News Wednesday the blaze is “devastating” to them, adding they literally ran from the home after it caught fire.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help raise money for the family’s recovery, with a friend writing that when they escaped the fire “they had nothing but the clothes on their back.”

The family escaped the home and were treated by paramedics at the scene, and are all considered safe, the friend wrote.

Although contained to the one house, the fire prompted some neighbours to leave their homes, as well.

A number of Nanaimo fire trucks responded, including a ladder truck, but the home couldn’t be saved despite firefighters hitting it from all sides.

Neighbours say the family is in need of everything, as all of their clothes and personal belongings were lost.

“It’s a shame, really, they help out the community and this is what happens,” said Richard Bouchard.

Investigators are continuing to examine the home to determine what caused the fire.

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