Terri Castle was working in a shed near her home in Elk Point, putting the finishing touches on the snowboards she got her kids for Christmas, when she heard her 10-year-old son Ethan screaming from the nearby house.
It was just passed midnight on Dec. 24 when a fire broke out in the basement of the home, causing damage to many of the family’s belongings. Both Ethan and Castle’s cousin, Jody, were sleeping in the home at the time of the fire.
“I went running to the house to find Jody was still downstairs where the smoke was so thick I couldn't see to the bottom of the stairs,” recalls Castle. “I called Jody to get upstairs, and I could hear him, but I couldn't understand what he was saying, so I yelled at him to get upstairs or I would come down after him.”
Jody staggered up the stairs, covered in soot and smoke. His feet, hands and face had some burns, and he was having a hard time breathing, recalls Castle.
“I grabbed the phone and called 911, and started rifling the Christmas gifts sitting packed up by the door outside. Then I got Ethan and Jody out to the shed,” says Castle, who then decided to go back into the house for the family’s three cats.
“My cousin’s cat bolted outside as soon as I opened the door, then I found one of the kittens under my bed. I headed for the door to find Ethan back in the house coming for the kittens,” says Castle. After sending her son back to the shed with the one kitten, she went back to look for the other.
“I couldn't find him, so I started throwing blankets and coats out the bedroom window. The smoke started to get really thick and Jody was now screaming at me to get out. I could still hear the kitten, but the smoke was too much for me to breath so I crawled out the window where Jody was standing, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me out.”
At this point, two members of the Elk Point Fire Department arrived on scene. When the one member opened the door, Meatball the kitten was near the door crying, but wouldn’t move. Castle reached in and the scared animal bolted for the shed where Ethan was covered up in the blankets that had been thrown out the window.
The family went to the local hospital, where Jody was treated due to smoke inhalation. When the family returned to the house, they were allowed back in to grab a few necessities from upstairs, where the fire hadn’t caused as much damage.
Castle returned again on Boxing Day. She found everything in the bedroom where her cousin was had been destroyed, and the fire had reached her other son’s bedroom, destroying his suit and his bed, and the wall of movies that the family had been collecting over the years.
“My deep freeze was melted into itself, and my treadmill was melted as well. When I talked to my landlady, she informed me the fire department had to return on Christmas Eve after we left to douse the smouldering embers, as it was getting really hot again,” says Castle.
At this point, Castle is unsure of what the family will be able to salvage since there appears to be a lot of smoke damage throughout the house.
“Everything is covered in soot or smoke.”
Castle says she didn’t have contents insurance, so it will be a huge loss to the family.
But, Castle is also thankful that her other son, Christian, was already in Edmonton at his brother’s place with the family dog, and her daughter was also in Edmonton, since she is currently attending MacEwan University. Right now, Castle and Ethan are also in Edmonton, although the family was planning on coming back to Elk Point for a hockey game on Friday.
“Christian plays for the Elk Point Avalanche Midgets, and we have a game on Friday and I'm scheduled to work in the booth. So we will be there, although I'm not sure about his hockey gear. I know one stick is burned and I don’t know if the integrity of his safety equipment has been compromised,” says Castle.
Thankfully, earlier in 2016 Elk Point native and Edmonton Oiler Mark Letestu brought the A. G. Ross Arena 14 full sets of hockey equipment donated by the NHL Players’ Association for use by the minor hockey association. Castle confirmed that her son would be using the “Letestu Locker” for the needed equipment in order to hit the ice with his teammates.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up at https://www.gofundme.com/terri-castle-christmas-eve-fire to help the family with financial costs associated with the fire.
