A Bowser couple whose home was destroyed by a fire last week are grateful for an outpouring of community support during a devastating time.
Jordan Pisani and his wife Kirstyn Brown-Mcfadyen, who’s 38-weeks pregnant, lived in the Bowser home with Pisani’s mother, Marlene. A friend had also been recently living in a trailer on the property with his dog.
On Sunday, Jan. 13, at approximately 6:45 p.m., Pisani was sitting upstairs in the home with his wife when he heard his mother scream his name from downstairs.
“I could tell by the way she called my name in a screech that something was seriously wrong,” Pisani said.
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Pisani said his mother, who was in the basement, noticed the fire first when she saw a flickering light in the reflection of a window.
“She went outside and saw that there were multiple little fires on the ground between the trailer and the house,” Pisani said. “I got up as fast as I could and ran downstairs… I saw the reflection of a fire and I ran outside and when I looked at the trailer… right underneath the propane tanks there was big flames.”
After seeing the fire, Pisani said he quickly got his friend and his dog out of the trailer and then ran back into the house to get his wife and their two dogs.
“We had no time to grab anything. Obviously nobody was thinking the house would be gone,” Pisani said.
After getting everyone out safely, Pisani said the trailer was fully engulfed in flames.
“I made my first phone call to the police at 6:43 p.m. and by 6:50 p.m. my security cameras went offline so that means the whole trailer was engulfed and the house’s electrical was gone within seven minutes,” he said. “The whole trailer was gone, the propane tanks had exploded and the [tenant’s] car was right beside the trailer and that was completely gone.”
The fire quickly spread to the side of the house and Pisani said as soon as the flames reached the attic it was “pretty much game over.”
The destruction included extensive water damage to the basement and the upstairs of the house was a complete loss. Pisani said the expecting couple were just about done renovating an upstairs bedroom into a nursery and they had just had a baby shower. Everything was pretty much lost.
Something that was recovered from the debris was Kirstyn’s engagement ring, left on a counter in the kitchen.
Although this time is devastating for the couple, they also feel grateful.
“Everyone has answered the call of duty, everyone has been so amazing,” Pisani said. “We are so appreciative of the community.”
The couple has a large list of people and organizations who have helped them in some way. Pisani said donations range from dog food to clothes to accommodation.
“A couple donated their Airbnb cabins to us,” Pisani said. “We believe we are here for a couple months so we can have the baby and then we will find something more permanent.”
Donations have also come in a big way through a GoFundMe page started by an aunt of Kirstyn’s. In the first day, the fundraising page reached $10,000, and jumped to $14,700 by day five.
“That has been unbelievable,” Pisani said of the GoFundMe page.
The fire remains under investigation and Pisani said the couple will wait to make any construction plans until it’s done.
The GoFundMe page can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/kay-and-jordy-house-fire.
