Family's home destroyed by fire days after derecho knocked out power

Like hundredsof thousands of others, the Riggins family home in Ottawa lost power from the derechowindstorm May 21. A few days laterthe family, including two parents and four children,lost their home to fire.

Liz Riggins calls it a "very tough, surreal two weeks" as the family copes with thesudden, devastating loss that can all be tied back to thestorm that tore through parts of Ontario and Quebec.

"But the family is together and that is what counts for us," Riggins said on CBCRadio'sOttawa Morningon Tuesday.

The familyconsidered themselvesfortunatebecause they had a generator.

They wanted to share that fortune, too, by inviting herbrother-in-law's family to stay with them. That meant there were 10 people living in the home"enjoying the minute amount of power that we could have," Riggins said.

It'sthe scariest moment of my life.- Liz Riggins

The two families shared the home for a few days as they waited for power to return. Then on the night of May 23, a Monday, Riggins recalled they turned off the generator and she said the candles were all blown out.

"But unbeknownst to us, that wasn't the case," she said.

WATCH | Family describes harrowing morning when fire engulfed home:

Days after the thunderstorm, this Ottawa family woke up to a wall of fire

2 years ago

Duration 2:01

Liz Riggins described what it was like losing their home to a fire just days after they lost power in last months severe thunderstorm. She says they used candles in the garage to help them see their generator, either of which may have sparked the fire.

'Extremely close call'

Her husband woke up for work around 5 a.m. and heard "what sounded like pots and pans banging downstairs." Riggins said she also woke up to the soundand looked outside at the garage.

"[I] saw just a wall of fire," she described. "It'sthe scariest moment of my life. I'm used to fire but this was unlike anything I've ever seen."

Riggins realized a fire extinguisher would do nothing to calm the flames, so she screamed to alert the others the house was on fire.

Once outside, the 911 dispatcher told Riggins to do a head count. They realized her niece was nowhere to be found.Her brother-in-law and a neighbour ran back inside and grabbed her.

"By that point, the house was engulfed in smoke," she said. "Luckily, she was lying on the ground [on a blow-up mattress], so she didn't have any smoke inhalation.

"We all made it out alive and safe and we're taking things day by day. That was an extremely, extremely close call."

Standing outside their oldhome Tuesday, Riggins'daughter Cassy described the harrowing morningwhile clinging to her stuffed bear.

"The first thing on my mind when I heard my mom say that the house is on fire, is grab Bear-Bear and run out of the house," the eight-year-old said.

"I was shaking like crazy like a volcano erupting."

Destroyed home, but grateful

Riggins said her family is lucky to have made it out without any injuries and is trying to stay positive.

"My husband and I have a philosophy that as long as our family is together and safe, everything else is just window dressing," she said. "It's a home. It's a building that can be replaced."

The Riggins family is now living out of a hotel and preparing to move into a rental.

With them, they bring the clothes on their backs anda few sentimental items, like her daughter's blanket that was knit by her grandmother and a statue from a trip to Africa.

Fire investigators have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire, but Rigginshas her suspicions.

She believes the jerrycans of gasoline, which werein the garage and being used to fuel the generator,had caps that weren't completely tightened. Though the candles were no longer lit, she thinks gas fumes caused the candle to spark while they slept.

In the aftermath, Riggins wonders what the family could have done differently. She said one of the fire marshals told them a smoke detector in the garage could have potentially alerted the family earlier to the fire.

"That's where we keep a lot of flammable items," she said.

Community fundraiser for family

The community has rallied around the family of six bystarting a fundraiser, which "brought tears to our eyes," Liz Riggins said.

"Knowing that everybody's there for us, it was a great, great relief," she said.

"I cannot express how grateful I am for our community and our family and our friends for coming together andhelping us out in this time of need."