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Blaze claims beloved family pet

Firefighters were called to Park Road and North Shore Road in Lake Cowichan on Wednesday, Dec. 2 to fight a fire at the Buyens home.
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This home on the corner of Park and North Shore Roads suffered serious damage in a fire last week. A fundraising effort is already underway for the residents of the home

Firefighters were called to Park Road and North Shore Road in Lake Cowichan on Wednesday, Dec. 2 to fight a stubborn fire at the Buyens home.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation but Lake Cowichan fire chief Doug Knott said Friday that it all started about 11 a.m.

“Someone was home. He said that he had some stuff piled up against the heater in a bedroom. That’s how the resident says it started. It’s still being investigated to get a clear cause,” Knott said.

Lots of smoke was visible from behind a high hedge in the residential area, and smoke could be seen coming from the roofline.

“It was in a single-storey, three-bedroom rancher. It was a very hard fire to fight. There was a tremendous amount of smoke and heat, “ Knott said. “We mutual aided with Youbou. We had enough firefighters but it was good to get a little relief.”

All the humans who were in the house got out all right but a dog died in the fire.

“That was very upsetting to the owner,” the fire chief said.

By 2 p.m. that same day, friend Kent Drew Watson had already set up a GoFundMe page to help the Buyens family.

“Unfortunately a good friend of mine just lost everything in a house fire. We would like to raise $2,500 just to try and help get them back on their feet,” the explanation says on the funding site at https://www.gofundme.com/5fd44mdf

By Friday morning, according to the page, generous folks had already donated $715.

Lake Cowichan residents were also busy last week trying to find other ways to assist the two men who lived in the house.