A fire destroyed a Dorval home on Christmas morning, killing the owner’s dog.
The community in the Montreal suburb is rallying to help with donations and household items that will help Stephen Flood get back on his feet, but the injuries and heartache will linger.
Flood woke up at around 3 a.m. on Dec. 25 to find his home in flames.
“I ran into the living room,” he said. “I could see flames coming from the corner of the wall. I barely made it out.”
Flood suffered second-degree burns while escaping from the flames and his home on O’Connell Avenue was destroyed.
“I still have burns on my leg, and my head,” he said. “So, physically the worst is over, but it's all the rest.”
He now needs to find a new place to live and start from zero. Flood says he lost much of his vinyl record collection as well as memorabilia
“I had a huge baseball collection,” he said. “I've been saving for decades for my kids. I’m a Montreal Expos fan.”
Those items cannot be replaced, but it's the loss of his dog Bella that hurts the most.
“I saw my dog wasn’t there,” Flood said through tears. “All I could see was black smoke and I was calling her. My voice was hoarse and I could her whimpering.”
Flood’s son Matthew said Bella is dearly missed - especially during these dark days.
“They were immensely close,” said Matthew. “I know that this is the worst thing for him - having lost her. He feels a lot of guilt for not being able to get her out.”
He added that the heartache is eased somewhat by generous friends and neighbours.
”I made a GoFundMe page for my dad,” said Matthew. “People have been really amazing. The community has really helped us out quite a lot. People have helped us by donating clothes as well. Some people have reached out about offering gift cards for food and all that while he gets back on his feet.”
Investigators from the Montreal Fire department were on site Jan. 2 and said the cause of the blaze is not yet known.
