Family grateful for support in wake of garage fire

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This article was published 03/01/2022 (1542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A family that escaped a garage fire on Thursday night say they are grateful for all the help and support they have been receiving.

The Moraveks — father Earl, son Austin, 17 and daughter Paris, 22 — are picking up the pieces from the fire that engulfed the garage of the home they were leasing on Princess Avenue in Brandon. The fire destroyed two of their cars, as well as a cache of auto repair tools, fuels, lubricants and chemicals they used for the upkeep of their cars.

Earl says despite everything that has happened, they know they are lucky thanks to the quick thinking of his son and response from Brandon Fire and Emergency Services.

“The fire department saved our house, the police took care of us during the fire. Everyone has been super,” he said on Sunday.

Austin was the first to notice smoke pouring out of the garage on their home’s security camera monitor at around 11:45 p.m. while he was sitting at his desk.

“I grabbed my keys, and as soon as I got out the back door, I heard this explosion and I saw the garage door had been blown off,” he said. “I started to see this huge, orange glow, like a sunset. That’s when I yelled at my dad and sister there was a fire, grabbed the cat, and headed outside.”

He called 911, and within minutes fire trucks were outside the house dousing the garage.

The family sat in a police car while fire crews went to work on the fire. Within a few hours, the fire was out and the family was allowed back in their home.

They were able to get the fire under control before it could reach their house, but it completely consumed everything inside the garage.

Earl said a fire inspector finished his investigation and concluded it was not arson and likely caused by an electrical issue, noting the fire burned very hot, fed by the fuels in the cars, as well as solvents and lubricants kept in the garage.

The family has started a GoFundMe campaign and posted pictures and video of their ordeal on social media to document the family’s ordeal, as well as the quick action of fire and police.

This fire is a major setback for the family as they do not have renter’s insurance. They had been leasing the home for about seven years and Earl said he wanted to get insurance, but it became one more thing he had to put off as other expenses popped up.

“We put it off because we were never that well off, financially, to begin with, unfortunately,” Earl said.

The family had been doing most of their own car repairs to save money. Earl said he used to run his own courier service in Brandon until he needed surgery to remove a spinal tumour in 2000, which caused him to become a paraplegic. He has regained some mobility, but needs help getting around.

Even with his limited mobility, he and Austin did all their own repair work and hadn’t been to a mechanic for years.

The greatest loss were the tools, Earl said. Some had sentimental value as they belonged to his father and others they bought themselves and were valuable in helping them repair their cars, saving the family a lot of money. They can’t afford new cars, they buy older and used ones as they are more affordable and do upkeep themselves.

There is some good news. The cars were insured and will be replaced, and the landlord has said he will rebuild the garage in the spring.

They have received some financial support since Paris put up videos she took of the fire on social media and their GoFundMe page.

“There’s been some nasty comments and victim-blaming, but most have been very supportive and sympathetic,” she said.

In the meantime, they have expenses that have to be covered. Earl said he feels worse for his children, including his other daughter, Madison, 20, who was visiting from university at the time and storing her car in the garage. He loaned her his truck to get around Brandon.

He also praised the immediate support they received from his landlord, who arrived on the scene shortly after emergency crews, as well as all the services, like Westman Communications Group, for getting their lives back to relative normalcy.

“Most of my family died years ago, but sometimes you don’t need family when you have help like that,” he said.

To donate and see photos and videos, go to linktr.ee/Moravek.

» kmckinley@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @karenleighmck1