Fire displaces Syrian refugee family on eve of 1st anniversary in Ottawa | 24CA News
As the one-year anniversary of the Al Hamoud household’s transfer from Syria to Ottawa approached, Marine Armstrong was writing a letter to their sponsorship group to say their first yr was ending “beautifully.”
Armstrong, a member of the group, wrote that the daddy, Hamid, was settling into a brand new job. The mom, Soha, was pregnant with their fourth youngster, whereas the opposite three sons had been studying English and settling into faculty.
Two days later, Armstrong rewrote that letter — now with a tragic ending.
The Al Hamouds had been chased from their beds within the early hours Thursday morning by a significant hearth that destroyed their Hanlon Avenue dwelling and lots of of their possessions.
“It’s not ending beautifully,” Armstrong mentioned. “It’s ending tragically.”
Children are ‘scared, terrified,’ father says
With translation assist from his niece Aya Abara, Hamid Al Hamoud advised CBC what occurred the evening of the fireplace.
Soha awakened simply after midnight Thursday to what she believed was the sound of dripping water within the youngsters’s bed room.
She went to research, and as an alternative discovered smoke and a small hearth close to the kids’s beds. She woke Hamid, and the 2 rushed the household exterior.
Their youngest son was asleep when Hamid carried him from his room, however the youngster woke in his father’s arms as he was whisked out the door.
“They’re scared, terrified,” Hamid mentioned of his youngsters.
Nobody was injured, however the household watched as flames licked the roof. Hamid knocked on the neighbour’s door to ask for assist calling 911 as a result of, having spent lower than a yr within the nation, he did not understand how.
The neighbour, Zac Van Daele, instantly dialled the emergency quantity. Firefighters had been on the scene in minutes.
“The whole neighbourhood is kind of shook that this happened,” Van Daele advised CBC the following day. “It’s terrible it happened to this family.”
Neighbours categorical concern
Hamid Al Hamoud mentioned the household can have a three-day resort keep coated by the Red Cross. After that, he is not certain what they’re going to do.
Armstrong mentioned she’s obtained textual content messages from neighbours frightened concerning the household.
She mentioned the sponsorship group is trying to quickly hire a spot close by for the Al Hamouds to remain, hoping to reduce the disruption on the children.
The group may even exchange the household’s furnishings and arrange utilities at their new dwelling.
Armstrong mentioned it is simple to think about how the fireplace may be “re-traumatizing” to the children, after their fleeting glimpse of stability since shifting to Canada.
“They’ve lived in tents with numerous family members — crowded tents — most of their life,” she mentioned. “It must be really destabilizing for kids who are just getting their footing.”
For Soha Al Hamoud, the fireplace continues to be recent in her thoughts.
“What if I didn’t smell the smell of the fire?” she requested. “I’m still thinking about it, and that image in my head of the fire.”
