Kelly Heggart now knows the answer to the question: What would you grab if your house was on fire?
“You don’t grab anything. You just go,” said the 54-year-old, who is trying to rebuild her life after her rented Fernwood home of 19 years went up in flames on Nov. 27.
The fire on Chambers Street caused $350,000 damage to the two-level heritage home, leaving Heggart displaced and desperately looking for affordable housing for herself, her dog and her cat.
The fire started in her bedroom around 10:30 p.m. when an unattended candle was knocked onto her bedding. Heggart smelled smoke from the other room and the small pot of water she retrieved could not douse the flames, which had spread to a wall tapestry.
“Within a second I knew I had to go,” she recalled. She called 911 as she fled. “I ran out the door in my bare feet. One minute you’re getting ready for bed and the next minute you’re standing on the sidewalk watching your entire life burn.”
Heggart’s dog, a seven-year-old Weimaraner named Lou, followed her out of the house but she could not find her cat, Zoe.
She kept returning to the house to see if Zoe had returned and asked the restoration crew to keep an eye out.
On Dec. 15, the restoration workers discovered the cat, nicknamed Itty Bitty, hiding in a charred section of wall in the attic, which had been knocked down by firefighters.
“After 18 days, for her to be found was just incredible. It was such an amazing moment,” Heggart said.
The cat is recovering as she stays with Heggart’s 25-year-old daughter, Tessa.
Heggart, who didn’t have tenants’ insurance, said she lost most of her possessions, including her mother’s gold ring and her father’s gold watch. Some family photo albums, protected by fallen debris, and her daughter’s childhood books, which were kept in a chest, were spared. “It makes you think about what’s important in your life,” she said.
Heggart is staying with a friend in Metchosin. Complete strangers have offered her household furniture and clothing but, with her few remaining possessions scattered between four storage locations, she can’t accept donations until she finds a new home. Heggart paid less than $1,000 a month for the two-bedroom suite with a fenced-in yard. She’s facing a twofold rent increase for a similar suite in the current market.
Making her home search more difficult is the fact that Heggart was laid off from her retail job due to COVID in May. She was receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and is now on employment insurance but wants to find a steady job before her benefits run out. Heggart said she’s had many interviews but the competition is fierce as many people in retail and the service industry have been laid off.
Heggart said losing her home of 19 years, where she raised her daughter and an array of beloved pets, has also robbed her of her community.
“I’m grieving the loss of my beloved Fernwood and my community, everything I know,” said Heggart, who does not drive and spent the past two decades commuting by foot. “All of a sudden you’re displaced.”
Her daughter has started a online fundraising page to get Heggart back on her feet, and has raised more than $6,000.
Heggart said she has has finished feeling sorry for herself and is now determined to start fresh.
“People lose their entire lives all the time. It’s just my turn,” Heggart said. “But I feel like my life is so unsettled. I need to get a home and just start over.”
