In so many ways, Christmas 2010 was a strange and confusing time for the Ellis family. Erin Ellis hopes to make Christmas 2011 a time of renewal - and she's crossing her fingers that by then, the family will be in a new home on Westway Avenue in Valleycliffe to replace the one that burned down almost three months ago.
The family -Erin, husband Scott, and youngsters Sarah and Colton -had its world turned upside down by a house fire on Dec. 3, 2010. Scott and Erin were attending a Christmas party on the North Shore for Erin's employer, the B.C. Attorney General's office, when the fire occurred. However, thanks to some fast action and help from neighbours, Sarah, then 13, Colton, 11, and the family's dog all got out safely. Only the family's cat, Miss Trax, perished in the blaze.
On Monday (Feb. 21), Erin Ellis said the past few months have been a whirlwind of logistical hassles and financial uncertainty while insurance adjusters combed through the charred remains of their home to assess what was lost, but also of countless gestures of kindness from community support networks both official and unofficial.
"You lose everything and the smallest thing takes you so long to do because you don't have all the stuff you had at home," Erin Ellis said. "Our fan belt went [out] in our car and we had to find someone with a jack, someone else who had the proper tools - all the things that my husband normally does. But everyone has been just amazing.
"We're just so glad we live here. Everyone has just been very, very supportive."
Erin's brother and sister in law, Ryan and Kylie Fourchalk, took the Ellises into their home immediately after the fire. After casting about for a few weeks looking for longer-term accommodation, the family hooked up with Nathan and Beth Dubeck, who own a home on nearby Magnolia Crescent that had been for sale. They agreed to rent it out to the Ellises.
"They're just wonderful, wonderful people. We're really happy," Erin Ellis said. "It's great, and the same sort of layout as our home, so it's really sort of comforting for the kids."
The family had been planning to spend Christmas at the Westway Avenue home. When the fire happened, though, they decided instead to spend it at the home of Scott's mother and her husband in Nanaimo.
There have been hassles with the insurance adjusters - the adjuster originally assigned to work on their claim resigned from his post without warning, in the middle of assembling an inventory of the damage to the home and the items lost in the fire. While the transition was nerve-wracking, "We have a new company and adjuster in there, doing an amazing job," Erin said.
She added, "We've learned so much about insurance - we're like insurance gurus now."
The Ellises have been told that it should take about six months from the start of construction to complete their new home. "I think it all depends on when they take that final wall [of the old house] down, so we're staying optimistic that we'll be able to have Christmas at home this year," Erin said.
The family recently had a little memorial for the missing member of the family - "We really miss Miss Trax," Erin said -but the parents have promised the kids that they'll get a new cat when they move into their new home.
In addition to those already mentioned, the Ellises especially wanted to thank the RCMP, Squamish Fire Rescue Service, Sea to Sky Victim Services, Brad and Leslie Stoddart, Save On Foods, Mark's Work Wearhouse and Garibaldi Executive Suites among the many who have provided assistance over the past few months. Erin said both her employer and Scott's have been helpful in providing time off when it was needed.
An event is in the works sometime this summer at the Magnolia Crescent house, she said.
"We'll definitely do a summer barbecue and thank everyone," Erin said. "I'll be flipping burgers for a few hours, I'm sure."
