A Cochrane couple whose house on Fifth Street was destroyed by an electrical fire in March is rebuilding, hoping to be in the new house on the same lot by Christmas.
Sherry Genier was in Toronto at the time of the fire. Her husband, Mario, was the only one in the house.
“You always see it and you think ‘aw, that’s never going to happen to me,.’” Sherry remarks. “And then when it does, it’s just mind blowing.”
Sherry’s philosophy is that she’s glad that Mario got out okay, and most of what they lost is replaceable.
“There’s a few things that yes, we lost that are not replaceable, but we can make our own memories of what we did lose,” she says.
Sherry says she still smells that burnt smell — even in the new house — and hopes it’s just in her mind.
(Tim Rout, MyCochraneNow.com staff)
The house that burned was Sherry’s dream home.
“I knew when that house came for sale, I was buying it, because that was my house”.
That’s because her father helped the original owner build it, and she is still best friends with his daughter. A railroad lantern that hung outside was her touchstone to her childhood.
Sherry says at least she got to live in it for four or five years.
“It needed renovations and we were going to start that next year. But the electricity in the house didn’t want to wait that long, I guess.”
And the lantern? She returned it to her friend’s family when she bought the house.