A family of eight was left homeless after a fire consumed the house they were renting in Mansfield on Jan. 23.
Mansfield fire department chief Patrick Bertrand said firefighters responded to a call on rue Graveline around 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
“When we got there, there was no more roof, the second floor was already caved in,” he said. “It’s completely burned down.”
Bertrand said the fire department had received a call at the same address at 6:37 p.m. on Wednesday evening because an electrical panel was smoking.
“The nature of the call was that there was apparently smoke in the house, but when we got there, there was no smoke at all,” he said, adding that they evacuated the family at that time.
When the fire department responded to the second call finding the house engulfed in flames around 3:00 a.m., all members of the family were safe at another location.
Bertrand said the cause of the incident has not been determined, but the fire is being considered suspicious and is now being investigated by the Sûreté du Québec.
SQ communications officer Sergeant Marc Tessier said the first incident was not suspicious, but the second one was.
“An investigation is under way in order to determine the cause of the fire. Nothing new at this time,” wrote Tessier in a statement on Monday morning.
The morning after the fire had consumed the house, Mansfield resident Josée Graveline put a call out on Facebook asking for donations.
Graveline, who knew the family prior to the fire, said there were eight people living in the home at the time of the fire, including two young children.
After putting out the call on Facebook, Graveline received cash donations from community members, as well as clothing from the Comptoir St. Pierre in Fort Coulonge and lots of furniture.
“There was one lady who was selling her house, who gave me almost all of her furniture,” she said, adding that the family needs supplies for their babies.
“It was my way of helping,” she said. “I don’t have the money to help like I would like to, but by posting the message I thought we could come together as a community.”
Graveline confirmed on Monday the family is sheltered in Pembroke, and is looking for a more permanent place to stay.
