After a devastating fire at a Fleetwood apartment building over the weekend, the Surrey Fire Fighters’ Charitable Society is collecting donations to help those impacted by the fire.
Dylan Van Rooyen, SFFCS vice-president, said the charitable society has been in contact with the City of Surrey’s emergency support services program to find out how they can help.
Van Rooyen said of the 56 units impacted by the fire, five to 10 of those units didn’t have insurance.
The Surrey Fire Fighters Charitable Society is collecting donations from the public online at surreyfirefighters.com/donate-online until Sunday, May 23.
Van Rooyen said the families’ needs vary from pet food to specialized medical equipment, adding they’ve had almost $3,000 in donations since launching on Sunday, May 16. He said the society will be “personally matching if not exceeding with our contribution.”
The charitable society is planning a large shopping trip on Sunday, but the firefighters have already provided some funding to a couple of families with no insurance for immediate relief.
Surrey Fire Service was called out to the fire near 160th Street and 84th Avenue just before midnight on Friday (May 14).
READ ALSO: Surrey firefighters continue to work to put out ‘stubborn’ fire, May 15, 2021
Mark Griffioen, deputy chief with SFS, said it “quickly turned into a third-alarm fire.”
Crews were on scene for most of the day Saturday, still trying to put out the last of the “stubborn” fire, Griffioen said.
Meantime, the Fleetwood Business Improvement Association and the Fleetwood Community Association are also spearheading another fundraising campaign.
Dean Barbour, executive director of the Fleetwood BIA, said that as news of the fire spread, “dozens of Fleetwood people and businesses reached out in support.”
Using the Fleetwood Community Corner Facebook page, which has more than 3,000 members, Barbour said they were able to connect the property management and strata companies to local resources such as pet donation centres and posts for housing rentals, clothing and furniture donations.
They also managed to connect with a member of the Walnut Road Elementary School’s parent advisory council, who helped to put together 13 bags for school-aged children that included school supplies, toiletries and git cards.
Barbour added they have set up a GoFundMe to help the residents pay a levy for a roof replacement from prior to the fire. It can be found here: https://gofund.me/3f0c2a52.
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