In the wake of Wednesday’s residential fire in Capreol, the community has come together in various ways to help those affected.
“We rally,” Capreol Community Action Network president Barbara Boucher told Sudbury.com.
“We are a close-knit community and everyone comes together in these situations in full force.”
Sudbury.com connected with Boucher on Friday morning, at which time a handful of community leaders were working to line up an account at Northern Credit Union to help those displaced by the fire.
Rather than have people contribute to a GoFundMe.com fundraiser, which charges fees, she said the credit union account will allow all proceeds to go toward helping those in need.
Wednesday’s fire broke out at a four-plex on Young Street in Capreol at around 7:30 p.m., shortly after which the front of the building exploded and injured three Capreol volunteer firefighters.
The fire displaced five residents in the four-plex, which was levelled to the ground in the blaze/explosion, and temporarily displaced four residents of the neighbouring residential building.
By the following day, a City of Greater Sudbury spokesperson said one firefighter had been discharged from the hospital overnight, and two firefighters remained in hospital for observation.
“Our injured brothers are weighing heavily on our minds and we hope that the two currently in hospital are back at home by the end of this weekend,” Capreol Fire Fighters Club posted on their Facebook page on Thursday, later reporting that all three had returned home by Friday.
“We would like to express our extreme gratitude to our community for the generosity you have shown us during this explosive structure fire that we have been fighting,” they added.
“The donations of coffee, doughnuts, Timbits, water, pizzas, etc. are greatly appreciated and definitely helped maintain our energy throughout this difficult battle.”
The club also thanked their “brothers and sisters” from other volunteer and career stations, which came out to “extinguish this stubborn fire.”
“You, our neighbours, always step up and express an incredible amount of support for us during stressful conditions, and we are so proud to have taken on this role for our Community.”
Boucher said the community came out to help shortly after the fire started, with Capreol Foodland owner Jennifer Grenier getting firefighters coffee, doughnuts and pizzas.
Help continued, with various business owners and community members collecting items and money for those affected by the fire.
“Everybody just rallied,” Boucher said.
“We just have to keep it going and make sure these people who were displaced have the things they need.”
Eddie Gravelle is a resident of the damaged building neighbouring the four-plex, and joined his brother, dog Duke, and other residents in being evacuated.
They still don’t know when they’ll be allowed back into their homes, but Gravelle said they’ve received numerous offers of free or discounted temporary housing in the meantime.
“It’s just kind of overwhelming to see how many people care about complete strangers,” he told Sudbury.com. “The way the world is progressing it’s easy to think people don’t have compassion ... but things like this really bring the community together.”
Volunteer firefighters “went above and beyond for us,” he said, adding that they allowed him access to his apartment to collect medication for both himself and specialty food for Duke, who is blind.
The account at Northern Credit Union has been opened.
People can visit the credit union to donate cash or cheques, and email money transfers are being accepted at [email protected]. Tellers at the Northern Credit Union in Capreol have the accounting information.
More information on this and other community efforts have been highlighted on the Capreol Community Facebook page.
Detectives in the Major Crime Section of the GSPS Criminal Investigation Division are working in collaboration with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office to determine the cause of the Jan. 24 fire.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
