Eganville – A well-known Eganville couple who lost their home and most of its contents in a fire in the late afternoon of December 7 are overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of the community as they deal with their loss.

Daryl and Bonnie Verch, their grand-daughter Ava Visutski, and her boyfriend, Ethyn, were at their home at 1175 Minnie Road in Bonnechere Valley Township when an explosion occurred in the attached garage, starting the fire that later spread throughout the structure.

Mrs. Verch told the Leader her husband had been in the garage and came into the house and was sitting on the stairs talking to her when disaster struck.

“We heard this big, big bang and we thought it was the snow coming off the roof of the house. Daryl said he didn’t think so and ran back out.”

She said they had a propane cooker in the garage, which she said was not on, so they are unsure of just what happened.

“Daryl ran out and tried to get at the tank but it just kept blowing up more. I ran out with him and noticed the fire was in the middle of the garage.

“He was lucky to get out without being injured,” she added.

She then quickly called 911, as she got Ava, her friend, and their pets (guinea pigs, hamster, and two dogs, Tiny and Tucker) out of the house. Unfortunately, the pet cat, Harley, was a victim of the fire. A second cat that stayed outside which they fed, also has not been seen since the fire. 

Mrs. Verch said almost everything is gone, including Christmas gifts she had purchased.

“I had just won a brand new flocked (has snow on the branches) tree. They’re really pretty and I had all the gifts put under the tree.

“And the fire hit that spot the worst, where the tree was in the living room,” she added.

She said the living room, dining room, and kitchen sustained the heaviest damage.   

“I was able to salvage a little bit from the basement,” she said. “Other than that, we came out with what we had on.”

Mrs. Verch said once the Bonnechere Valley Fire Department arrived on scene, they attacked the fire in the attached garage and at one point felt it would be contained to that area. Then it spread into the attic and went through the remainder of the home.

“It is what it is; they tried hard,” she remarked.

The home was built in 2002, and she and her husband moved into it in 2011. They do have insurance but whether it will be sufficient to cover the loss is still to be determined.

Response Unbelievable   

“I can’t even put into words what the community has done for us,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “It’s just unbelievable.

“Everyone has been so kind,” she added. “Everybody is giving us clothes. and I send my gratitude to them because they have been amazing. It’s good to live in a small town like this.”

The Verchs were often on the other end of a similar situation helping someone in need, and now that they are the recipients of the same kindness, they truly realize how important and special it is.

“The neighbours that came over the day of the fire with blankets and coffee . . .  they were just unbelievable the kindness they showed during that time. I can’t say enough about our town and what they’ve done for us.”

Mrs. Verch said their families have been incredible as well.

They are currently staying at the Verch hunt camp near Lake Clear. She said it is quite cozy in the interim.

“We’re there for the next little bit until we see if we can get a place until maybe March,” she explained. “It’s very homey up there and comfortable.”

She said they have had another offer from neighbours, Jerry and Lynn Minnie to use their camp, which they are very grateful for.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do yet, we’re just going to play everything by ear.”

Ava, who is in Grade 8 at St. Joseph’s School in Renfrew, said she can’t even think about the situation right now.

“I never thought something like this could happen,” she said. “It hurts me a lot because I grew up in that home. And I lost my cat.”

Shortage of Personnel

Bonnechere Valley Deputy-Chief Caleb Wagner, the incident commander at the fire, said the call came in at 3:23 for an explosion in a garage.

“We assumed that it had turned into a structure fire and we had a pretty quick response,” he explained. “We were on scene by about 3:35.”

He said enroute to the fire they could see the thick, black smoke that confirmed their assumptions.

“It was a full-house response and due to limited water sources available in that vicinity, I tiered North Algona (Wilberforce) for a Mutual Aid request for a tanker,” he explained. “We had limited manpower at the start as people were trickling in from all over, and knowing we had limited water resources, I called for Mutual Aid around 3:40.

“Upon arrival, it was definitely confirmed that it had moved its way into the attic, on what we call the Bravo side, the west side of house,” he added. “It was a metal roof and it was starting to turn grey, and it was just super-heated, so it was already in the attic space at that time.”

Personnel started with an offensive attack and as more personnel arrived, an interior attack was attempted.

“We went in briefly just to see and it hadn’t breached from the attic space into the main floor,” he said. “But what I was observing from my standpoint as command, I could see the attic was getting super-heated and there was just too much risk to firefighters, so we pulled off with the interior attack.”    

Deputy-Chief Wagner attributed the limited water supply primarily to the location of the fire, adding while there are some local static water sources, with the snowfall it was too risky to get close to them to draw water safely without possibly getting the truck stuck or having one slide into the water source.

“Given the proximity to Eganville, we just utilized the closest hydrant to the scene which would have been at the Shell station across from the paramedic base. Then having the tanker come up from North Algona definitely helped us so we were able to keep a consistent revolution of water supply.”

He said they did not have the pumper from the Foymount Station on scene because of the lack of personnel.

“I needed more hands, I had an all-personnel call go out and it was more for attacking the fire because at that point, I already had North Algona coming with water,” he explained. “        

Typically, Mutual Aid will dispatch the department in the closest proximity to the location of the fire, adding he specifically requested NAW, who tiered a tanker from Rankin and another from Golden Lake. He added NAW also sent their rescue unit with a couple personnel. The Rankin Station is 27 kms away from the fire scene and the Douglas Fire Department is under 14 kms.

When questioned why he did not request Douglas instead of NAW, he said while they might be closer he was not aware of what their tanker capabilities might be.

“Where I do know North Algona has three tankers at their disposal, so it was more quantity of

water,” he said.     

Dep. Chief. Wagner said the lack of personnel initially had a greater impact on what they were able to accomplish rather than the limited water supply.

“I made the comment to my team that if I had probably another four to six people arrive and with a quick attack, I think we would have been able to minimize the damage,” he remarked.

Tough Time

The deputy chief said a fire at any time is devastating, but the impact is magnified during the Christmas season.

“There’s never a good time for a structure fire, but it’s especially worse at this time of year. I always feel bad going to a fire of this magnitude this close to Christmas.

“It makes it harder and hits even closer when it’s somebody you know and somebody really, that we work with,” he added.

He said he believes a lot of the belongings in the basement of the home may be salvageable, despite the water damage.

“There was never a collapse on the main floor,” he said. 

He thanked NAW for their assistance, noting NAW township was having its Christmas party that night, yet the firefighters still responded to help their neighbours. 

“I do definitely appreciate all their efforts to drop what they were doing and help us out. We called for one tanker and they sent two.”

BV had 12 personnel on scene in total, five initially, and NAW had seven.

He said their investigation indicated the fire may have originated with a propane cooker in the garage. Personnel were on scene until 9:47 p.m. 

Mr. Verch is a long-time employee of Bonnechere Valley Township is manager of the water sewer department.

A GoFundMe page has been started to assist to assist the family.