A Diamond Valley family is overwhelmed by the support it has received after being forced out of their home by a fire earlier this month.
Although firefighters quickly arrived, the fire on Dec. 11 caused enough damage that the family will be out of the house for months, said homeowner Joe Bentley.
When the fire started in the ceiling of the first floor, no one was home, but Bentley arrived a short time later to find the fire alarm going off.
The family dog was inside, and when Bentley opened the door, smoke poured out.
“I ran in to try and find our dog,” he said. “One of the gifts in the garbage of all of it is that my dog was still alive, he was smart enough to go into the basement.”
A municipal enforcement officer was nearby and called the fire department, and firefighters arrived within minutes, Bentley said.
“And then we watched the fire department do their thing for the next little while," he said.
The amount of smoke and fire damage means it will be 10 to 12 months before the family can return home.
“We were lucky in some ways, because the whole house didn't burn,” he said. “From that standpoint, we're so incredibly fortunate.”
“We're still processing it, to say the least,” he said. “It feels strange to be on the other side of the human-interest piece that you normally read about at Christmas time.”
In the aftermath, Bentley said he’s overwhelmed with the support his family has received from the community.
"The response from the community has been so beautiful," he said. “The Westwood put together a fundraiser almost immediately."
The Diamond Valley restaurant matched the funds from gift card sales and contributed it to the family.
There was a fundraiser held at the Griffiths Centre, and a GoFundMe was started for the family by Olympic speed skater Isabelle Weidemann and coach Phil Riopel.
“They didn't ask, they just did. They just stepped up and put together the GoFundMe,” he said.
As a massage therapist, Bentley has worked with the Canadian Speed Skating Team for over 10 years and has travelled with the team to several Winter Olympics and World Championships.
“I do massage therapy, and my wife does holistic therapies,” he said.
Joe and his wife Heather work out of a separate building on the property, but utilities were disconnected after the fire, making it unusable.
Bentley said the support they’ve received means they can take it day-by-day as they look for a place to stay and take care of their two young children.
“It helps give that space for our family to properly grieve, and plan and rebuild,” Bentley said. “It also means that I'm able to go back to work, maybe a bit slower than I would have otherwise.
“The reality is that the first order of business is my family's health and welfare.”
Bentley said he recognizes many names on the GoFundMe page, but there are lots of donors that he doesn’t know.
“I have so many things that I would like to say to the people who have contributed. And yet I don't know how to put it into words. I just I wish I could pay it back to them all at once, but it's going to be over several years of doing things."
He said he’s explained the difference between tears of sadness and tears of gratitude to his daughter.
“There are different times that we cry, and there's been a lot of both types of tears since the fire,” he said.
They are hoping to find a place to rent in Diamond Valley, not only to provide a chance for them to go back to work, but to also so they can stay in the community that "is holding us so closely right now," he said.
