PUSLINCH – A family of eight is anticipating a tough year ahead as they rebuild their lives after a Puslinch house fire destroyed almost everything they have. But they are feeling grateful to be alive.
It was the afternoon of Oct. 21 when the Lehunewycz’s lives would be turned upside down after a fire destroyed the roof of their home on Wellington Rd. 34 in Aberfoyle, forcing them to find somewhere else to live.
On the day of the fire, Alex Lehunewycz was at home with four of his children as his wife Ashley had taken two of their children to jiu-jitsu practice.
There was no indication anything was going wrong that day when Alex was in the bedroom with seven-month old Axel when he heard his oldest son Ayden shouting around 5:20 p.m.
“All I heard was ‘fire, fire, fire,’” Alex said.
Ayden was in the basement with his siblings and a friend when he heard something that didn’t sound right.
“It almost sounded like water hitting a pan or something but I saw some light in the hallway which I found out was the fire,” Ayden said. “I went upstairs to go look, as soon as I came around the corner I just see all red.”
Those in the house were able to quickly get out. Alex said they were lucky this happened during daytime.
“By the time we got everybody out and when I got back the windows started breaking, that’s when all the smoke came into the living quarters, that’s when the alarms came on,” he said.
The visiting friend ended up as the only injured person as Alex explained he went in to save some pet rats and was overwhelmed by smoke.
Jiu-jitsu was just wrapping up when Ashley heard about the fire from her son and husband and got home when the fire department was suiting up.
The fire ended up causing extensive damage to the roof, fire chief Jamie MacNeil told EloraFergusToday in an earlier interview, but a cause would be undetermined as there were too many variables.
The family believes the fire started at an electrical outlet at the back of the house, based on visual examination of the scene, but there was nothing plugged into at the time.
Alex speculated it may have been caused by pests chewing wires as he described this year as being a bad one for mice and rats at the property.
The Red Cross put them up in a hotel in Guelph for a few nights, which they extended until the next week.
They found another temporary spot to stay before going off to a rented property in Rockwood which will be their long-term accommodation while they rebuild their house in Aberfoyle. They plan to keep their children enrolled at the local elementary school and will have to commute daily there in the meantime.
Alex acknowledged times had already been tougher financially due to the higher cost of living for the large family and this new place will be a big reduction in space for the family who are used to having a large backyard.
“We know the next year is going to be hell, it’s going to be hard for the commute, hard for the kids waking up earlier, work, everything’s a little bit further it kind of disrupts everything,” Alex said.
Nearly everything from their house was destroyed either by fire or from smoke damage.
Ashley said it’s not the big items but the little things you don’t think about often that are making the list of things such as when she was thinking about making solid food for Axel and realized she didn’t have anything she needed to do so at the hotel.
“When you have to get out of the house, you don’t realize the simple things,” Ashley said.
The family has been very appreciative of the community who have given them lots of support, including the local firefighters who attended to the scene and the families and staff at Aberfoyle Public School who started a drive for donations and have provided the family with gift cards.
They gave a particular shout out to Jill Robbers, one of their children’s teachers, who lives a short distance away and came by when she saw the smoke and offered support right away and consoled their daughter.
A GoFundMe was also launched by a family friend and has raised $5,000 so far.
Next they are working on clearing out the debris inside so the home’s owner can get crews in to start working.
Alex said the whole situation is a logistical nightmare but noted his children are happy which is what mattered.
The most important thing was pointed out to them by four-year-old Aylias when he was asked if there’s anything he wanted as Robbers offered to get something for each child.
“Aylias said to me and turned to me and goes ‘mummy I don’t need anything because I have my life,’” Ashley said.
