Photo Courtesy of AM980
Photo Courtesy of AM980
A soon-to-be-married London couple says they’re thankful to still have each other, but have lost almost everything else after fire tore through their home in the Huron Heights area.
Firefighters were called to the 39 Cayuga Crescent around 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Fire officials spotted flames already shooting through the roof when they arrived on scene.
Sarah Rickwood and her fiancé J.P. had working smoke alarms, but it was neighbours pounding on their door who first alerted them of the fire.
“Everything on the lower level was clear but the smoke was coming from the upper level,” says another resident of Cayuga Crescent, Carl Jacques.“
The flames completely destroyed the roof and caused smoke damage throughout the home and structural damage to the second storey walls. The fire also destroyed everything the couple had been working on for their upcoming July wedding.
“I was planning like an eco-vintage wedding so everything would be finished,” Sarah Rickwood begins.
“Everything that we had been doing for the wedding was all hand-done and stuff I’d been working on for months and months. And of course my bridesmaids’ dresses and stuff just came in.”
Rickwood says they also lost clothing, golf clubs, and everything prepared for their stag and doe.
“I keep thinking of other things and I’m like ‘Oh my God, I had all these antique books and a huge library of stuff from school’. I’m just about to graduate, so, all that’s gone.”
The couple had also been renovating the home.
Damage is estimated at $150,000.
The couple did have insurance, and are staying with family in the aftermath of the blaze. They say because of the help they’ve received from their family, they aren’t asking for any donations.
The Wedding Shop has already offered to help the couple replace several items lost in the fire.
