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Family raises money for Nanaimo fire victim

NANAIMO – Daughter raising funds to help her mother replace mobile home and belongings destroyed in fire.
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Rick Kwasnecha

The family of an elderly Nanaimo woman who was burned out of her mobile home recently has started a fundraiser to help  replace her home and belongings.

Doreen Lord, 74, was lucky to escape a fire that destroyed her mobile home, located in the Petroglyph Mobile Home Park on Chase River Road in south Nanaimo, and virtually all of her belongings Sept. 3.

Lord is now living temporarily at her daughter's home in Duncan.

Donna Sharpe, Lord's daughter, said her mother was insured for about $50,000, but the amount is not near enough to cover disposal costs to remove the burned structure, replace it with a newer unit and lost belongings, which Sharpe estimates will cost an additional $50,000.

"We're trying to get money going to try and get her into her new home," Sharpe said. "It's obviously not going to be a new trailer."

Lord lived alone in the mobile home since her husband died in 2011. Almost all mementos of their 50 years together were destroyed in the fire.

Lord also used a mobility scooter to get around when out of the house, which also burned.

"She can walk around inside the house with a cane, but anywhere else she's in a wheelchair and we'll have to eventually replace her scooter, but not yet because right now we don't have a place to put it."

The family hopes to replace the burned mobile home with a newer model offering more safety features. The old one was built in 1972 and had only one entrance.

"There was only one entrance and exit and the fire wasn't at that so she was able to get out, otherwise she would have been trapped in there," Sharpe said. "I'd really like to try and get her something with two doors."

Meanwhile Lord, who wasn't physically injured in the fire, is recovering from the emotional and psychological trauma of the event.

"She's doing OK," Sharpe said. "She's struggling with it. It's nightmares and stuff."

Sharpe has set up an account for donations with Scotia Bank. To make a donation, please make payments to account No. 0117382, transit No. 71100.

For more information, please contact Sharpe at 1-250-746-5183 or via e-mail at dleelord@telus.net.



Chris Bush

About the Author: Chris Bush

As a photographer/reporter with the Nanaimo News Bulletin since 1998.
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