A Lacombe County resident has been left reeling after his home at Township Road 414 and Range Road 14 burnt down March 9.
Tory Watson returned home from work the morning of March 9 after receiving calls alerting him his house was on fire. Watson rushed home to find Lacombe Fire Services and Rimbey RCMP on scene battling the blaze engulfing the house he built by hand.
A close friend of Watson, Danielle Harris, says he wasn’t expecting the fire to be so big when he returned to the property. The fire took everything.
“Everything’s gone,” Harris says. “He was devastated.”
She says Watson had a single hamper of laundry at his mother’s place and after the fire, that was the only possessions he had left. By some stroke of luck Watson had brought his dog with him to work that morning, according to Harris, little did he know he saved his beloved pet from being caught in the house fire that day.
Following the fire, the only possession found from the house is a single medallion that belonged to Watson’s late grandfather.
Harris says she felt gutted for Watson when she heard about what happened and wanted to do everything she possibly could to help him.
“He’s one of those people who will give you the shirt off his back,” Harris says.
She says Watson is the kind of person who gives and gives, but will never ask for anything in return or help for himself. To help him, Harris has set up a Go Fund Me under “Torys House burnt down”.
In addition to rebuilding a home and replacing his belongings, Watson has the fees and labour associated with the demolition of the burnt frame of his house. Harris set up the Go Fund Me with a goal of $5,000 in hopes that it will ease the burden of all Watson is facing right now and help him financially move forward.
