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Maple Ridge family rebuilding from fire a step at a time

But a new rental home will be double that of the old one
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Fire lit through Greenwell Street home early this month. (THE NEWS/files)

A Maple Ridge family is still trying to get its life back together after a devastating fire ripped through their home on Greenwell Street in the early morning hours of Sept. 5.

The fire destroyed most of the contents inside and killed six pet birds.

“We walked out with our phones and our vehicles, really,” said Jason Davies.

He suffered a burn to his head from the heat and is now recovering and expects to back to work in a few weeks.

“It’s probably the scariest thing I’ve ever been through,” Davies said.

As difficult as the fire is the task of finding a new place to rent. The family of five was renting their Greenwell Street home for $1,700 a month.

“It’s very difficult,” finding a place, said Davies. “There’s a lot out there if you’re a millionaire. Just who can afford $3,000 a month,” for a five-bedroom home, he said.

While Davies’s pickup truck wasn’t damaged, he had to have it towed down to the dealership, then had to pay $380 for a set of keys.

Three cats were in the house at the time, but only one, named Spooky, made it out.

Davies and his wife are currently staying with friends in Langley and the three adult children are with family or friends in Maple Ridge. But the family wants to move back to Maple Ridge if they can find a place.

The family had been living there for five years and had renters insurance and the insurance company has “helped out immeasurably,” Davies said.

In August 2016, another fire destroyed a home on Greenwell Street.