A GoFundMe page has been established to help out the seven University of Guelph students left homeless by a fire Monday.
As of mid Tuesday morning the fund had raised $5,655 of its $7,500 goal.
“Today, March 26, 2018 seven of my good friends house burned down in an electrical fire. Three were inside, and without the assistance of their fire alarms, they wouldn’t have woken up in time,” reads the GoFundMe page.
“Within minutes, the entire deck caught fire and burned through all of the bedrooms, leaving the guys without a chance to grab anything.
“Currently, their backpacks and the clothes they were wearing when they went to campus this morning are all that they have. I know this won’t even account for a fragment of the damages, as computers, drum sets, guitars, recording equipment and endless irretrievable photos were lost…but it’s something. If you can help at all - I know it would mean the world to these guys. They’ve always been there to help out everyone and anyone, and now it’s time for us to return the favour.”
The Gueph Fire Department said the fire broke out at 20 Hooper St., just off York Road, at around 2 p.m. Monday.
“Arriving at the scene, firefighters found a fully involved house fire with visible flames and thick black smoke coming from the structure. All occupants of the structure had self-evacuated upon arrival,” said a fire department press release Tuesday.
“Firefighters were on scene quickly, performed an aggressive exterior attack on the fire that had self- vented through the roof. The fire was quickly brought under control and subsequently extinguished.
Fire crews remain on scene to extinguish hot spots.”
There were no injuries to firefighting personnel.
The cause of the fire, along with a damage estimate, is still under investigation.
The fire department said smoke alarms were a “deciding factor” in saving lives by alerting two sleeping occupants to the major fire in this building.
