Headlines News
N.B. family of seven feels blessed despite losing everything in fire

ST. CHARLES, N.B.
– A New Brunswick family of seven is feeling blessed even after losing
their home and all of their belongings in an early-morning fire
Wednesday.

Allan Marsh, his wife, and their five children
ranging from six to 15, narrowly escaped harm when fire raced through
their older, three-storey, wood-frame house.

The building in St. Charles was a former convent they bought 10 years ago.

“We all got out'' except perhaps for one of two family cats, said Allan Marsh.

A
church parish has invited the family to occupy a large, empty rectory
for the time being and people of the surrounding communities have been
dropping by with food and clothing for the family.

“It's heartbreaking'' to watch one's home burn to the ground, but then it could have been worse, he said.

It was incredible how fast the fire travelled through the house, he added.

Marsh was awake at about 12:30 a.m. checking lit candles. The community was one of several hit by storm-related power outages.

Marsh believes one of the cats knocked over a candle and that by the time he noticed, the fire was already racing along.

He's
thankful for the family's fire evacuation practices. Marsh said the
last to exit was his older daughter. He said he could just see her legs
as she came down the smoke-filled stairway and out the door.

Everyone was outside in their bed clothes standing bare feet in the snow but no one noticed, he said.

“It's the toughest thing to do, standing there and watch your home burn while waiting for firefighters to arrive.''

(Moncton Times and Transcript)