EARL GREY, Sask. — "You don't really expect these things. You only see it in movies, and then it just happens," says Kaylah Hagley.
A March 30 fire at a home in Earl Grey occurred the day before the couple was to move to the city. Rolufs had taken a couple of loads of boxes to the new place in Regina, and Hagley, who was at work in the city, drove back with him at the end of the day.
When they arrived, they were surprised but what they found. When they got out of the car, they could smell smoke. "We thought the neighbour was having a campfire, but then when Hunter opened that door it was just black. Black smoke, we couldn't breathe. We ran in to try to get all of the animals out." The dogs had been in a back bedroom with the door closed, which Hagley believes saved their lives. "If that door had not been shut they probably would not have made it," she said.
They were unable to find their two cats, "Kitty" and "O’Malley," at first, eventually finding them in a bedroom closet. Rolufs tried to give CPR to one of the cats; however, neither survived.
There wasn't any active fire in the home when they went in, and Hagley said the fire department initially said they had done a good job of extinguishing the fire. However, she said they hadn't extinguished the fire.
An ambulance was called to have them checked out. Because they didn't have any insurance, Hagley's mom, Amanda Fink, started a writing, "I never thought I would have to set up one of these. Tonight my daughter and her partner came home to their house on fire they lost everything including 2 cats. I know what it's like to be young and not thinking of having insurance believe me I've rented places and never thought I would need insurance and they did the same with no rental insurance. They also were moving to another place so now they have nothing just the clothes on their back. We would greatly appreciate any help given I feel absolutely bad for even asking for help and I'm so sorry for that."
To help them out, the Earl Grey Fire Department gave the young couple a $1,000 gift certificate. Fire Chief Brad Bougher said, "We know first-hand the hardship an incident like this brings to people so it's something we can provide. It comes from the firefighters account built from the fundraising events we host throughout the year. The Earl Grey Longlaketon Fire Protection Board also contributes $20 per hour per member to this account for the duration of an emergency call we respond to."
Hagley is very appreciative of the support they have received, posting a thank you on her Facebook account "… there are no right words to say how much we appreciate everything.." She said she is getting rental insurance for her new home, "At a young age we don't really think that we need insurance because, either we are poor or we don't think about it. But then when tragedy happens, you are like, well I kind of need it now. It's a hard lesson to learn. I learned the hard way and I really hope others really don't have to learn the hard way."
We reached out to Saskatchewan Public Safety Inspector Heather Scheidt, who said they are in the process of writing their report. We will update this story when we receive information regarding the cause.
