Judy Crocker was still in shock on Monday morning as she recounted the events of Saturday night when her family home in Trout River was heavily damaged by a fire.
Crocker and her husband Gary have lived in the home since 1995. Their son Brendon Crocker lived with them and their daughter Patti Jones and her husband Chris Jones lived in the basement apartment.
Crocker said they don’t know yet what caused the fire.
She and her husband were in the living room at around 10 p.m., she was sitting in a chair crocheting and he was on the chesterfield.
“And I heard a bang,” she said her voice switching from calm as she struggled to hold back from crying.
Crocker went out to check and got as far as a door to the porch.
“Everything was white in my porch.”
She called out to her husband that the house was on fire. His reaction was one of disbelief and she told him to come look. When he did, he said it was smoke.
They ran back and called out to their son, who was watching TV in another room and the family made their way out of the house.
“We went to go out through the front door and everything was right white in front of us.”
She figures now that the house had been on fire for a while at that point, but they hadn’t seen any smoke come across the windows that line the front of the home.
“It was just like walking through a cloud,” she said of the thick smoke.
As they made their way out Gary, who has asthma, was coughing. Once outside they realized the family’s two dogs were still inside the house.
“Brendon heard them barking and so he just stepped inside the door and he grabbed one under each arm and came out.”
“Oh, my,” she said with a sigh.
Once outside they saw the flames on one corner of the house.
Her daughter and son-in-law were at home in the basement apartment at the time. Patti smelled the smoke and heard her mother yell out that the house was on fire, so she and Chris also made their way out.
The Trout River Volunteer Fire Department was called, but Crocker said the response was slow and that it took them 40 minutes to arrive. She also said a nearby resident called the volunteer department in Woody Point, which assisted in putting the fire out.
Wade White, acting chief of the Trout River department, said the pager call to the fire department was received at 10:31 p.m. and it took about five to six minutes to get there.
He was told that calls to 911 were getting a busy signal and a neighbour called her mother-in-law who called White’s home. His wife called the pager.
“It might have seemed like a long time to them because they were in a tragedy. They were in flames by the time people got phone calls made.”
He confirmed the Woody Point department was called in for a backup and said that’s not unusual for a major fire.
A picture taken after the fire was put out shows damage to the exterior of the home and the garage. Inside, Crocker said the kitchen is all burnt out and there’s damage all through. She said they lost all their clothes and furniture in the fire and also family mementoes.
There’s very little left to the garage.
On Monday morning, a carpenter took a look at the home and while he thinks the foundation can be saved everything else will have to be replaced.
“And we don’t have the money to do it,” said Crocker her voice breaking again.
The couple is retired and insurance on their home was cancelled last year.
“It’s a lot to build up. It’s going to cost a lot to get it back there, but at least we got out and nobody got hurt. Thank God for that.”
The family has been staying at Tableland Cottages since the fire, but Crocker thought they would have to find somewhere else by Wednesday.
“It’s quite the ordeal. We don’t know where we’re going to be,” she said.
However, on Tuesday owner Elwood Crocker said the family was welcome to stay as long as the business, which is still in its off season, could accommodate them, or they find another place. He said they were not charging the family.
With all that is to be sorted, Crocker said she was coping the best she could.
And she was thankful for the support from the community, as people have been giving them clothes and money.
“I was overwhelmed by the response we got.”
The Red Cross has also gotten involved with assisting the family. A volunteer from Corner Brook travelled to Trout River on Monday to provide support.
Edited on May 1 to correct business name and add information.
