An overnight fire in Harrop this week has destroyed a home and left one man destitute.
The Balfour-Harrop fire department was called around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17 as the singlewide trailer caught fire.
“When we arrived on scene the trailer was fully engulfed,” Assistant Fire Chief Nora Hannon says.
The home was rented by Shane Sprowl who was able to safely get out along with his four dogs. The experience has left him “absolutely devastated.”
“It’s been shocking,” he says. “Words can’t really put this into perspective.”
Emergency social services has helped the man with his immediate needs while Kootenay Animal Assistance Program is lending a hand with his dogs. Even so, Hannon says the victim of the fire will need further help.
“He lost everything in that fire and had no content insurance. He lost all his tools for work as well,” she says. “Hopefully there will be community rallying behind him to help him get his feet back underneath.”
A tradesman, Sprowl had a myriad of tools needed to build houses including roofing, flooring, painting and concrete gear.
“It was thousands of dollars worth of tools and it’s all gone,” he says.
With bare bones help from emergency services, Sprowl is able to complete a contract he’d secured this week. His friends are in the process of setting up registries at local hardware stores as well as a bank account to accept donations so that the fire victim can work to get himself back on his feet.
Aside from tools, Sprowl is most concerned about his dogs and feeding them as KAAP’s assistance won’t last. The man is also interested in staying on the Harrop property he currently rents and is looking for a cheap or free trailer to bring onto the site.
There were nine firefighters on the scene until about 5 a.m. when the fire was extinguished. Despite several trees catching fire nearby, the fire was kept from spreading beyond the property. There were no injuries.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation though it is not suspicious.