A picture taken July 21st at the Tarry property south of Birch Hills. (Facebook/ Heather Tarry)

By Nigel Maxwell

Community support

Birch Hills area couple receives ‘tremendous’ support after house fire

Jul 27, 2021 | 5:00 PM

Nearly a week after a fire destroyed a home in the Birch Hills area, support continues to pour in for the couple who lived there.

Michelle Tarry was working in the yard moving bales on July 21 when through the haze of the already smoky sky, she noticed black smoke coming from the roof of her home.

“I drove halfway up with the tractor and I noticed flame on a TV antenna that was on the side of the house, and so I just backed the tractor as far away from the house as I could and called 911,” she explained

The overall structure of the house was saved, but due to smoke damage, both the house and the neighbouring garage are a write off. Miraculously though Michelle’s wedding dress was saved as well as some personal photos, including the one from her wedding day.

“The fire department did an amazing job. My nephew used to be on the Birch Hills Volunteer Fire Department and he believes that this is the first house they’ve ever actually saved from burning right down,” Tarry explained.

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As the couple are cattle farmers and are in the midst of a busy season, community members and family have moved a camper trailer onto the property for them to temporarily live in.

“It’s been tremendous. I just can’t believe the donations we have received; just everything we have needed,” Tarry said.

It’s hard to imagine how anything was saved from the home. (Facebook/Heather Tarry)

Reflecting further on the community support, Tarry became emotional when explaining it was similar to the support she received 15 years prior after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

“This community is just unbelievable and what they do for people,” she said.

Heather Tarry is Michelle’s daughter-in-law and has been helping collect donations. It was also Heather’s husband who found the unscathed wedding dress, wrapped in plastic, in the attic area. Everything around it was covered in charcoal.

“As soon as we found that out, that just gave me chills like I don’t know how those kinds of items survived the fire,” Heather said. ‘Those are the things you can’t replace.”

In addition to monetary donations, a lot of people from within the community have been donating furniture.

“We thought we could store some stuff in their garage but we can’t so it’s just kind of been family around town with their garages,” Heather said.

Moving forward, the family is now in the process of trying to find a winterized trailer, but do plan to re-build a house on the property once the insurance work has been completed.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell