SURREY 鈥� Losing all your worldly belongings in a house fire is tragic enough, but Surrey resident Donna Vallee also lost three of her four dogs.
Sitting in her hospital bed last Friday, Vallee struggled to fight back tears.
鈥淚 just can鈥檛 stop crying,鈥� said a grief-stricken Vallee.
Vallee said an ambulance attendant told her the dogs 鈥渂urned up.鈥�
鈥淎ll that was on the beds was bones. That鈥檚 all there was.鈥�
In the wee morning hours of Aug. 7, Vallee and eight other residents of a Surrey fourplex, near 103rd Avenue and 128th Street, awoke to find their home on fire. Twenty-three firefighters fought the two-alarm fire, but the home was destroyed.
The human residents all escaped, but three of Vallee鈥檚 dogs did not.
鈥淪omething was really, really wrong here,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f somebody started it, they need to be locked up.鈥�
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Vallee tearfully recounted the fateful morning.
鈥淚 had a hard time getting down the stairs and it was just orange. The flames were right in the living room,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was a lot of smoke. Oh my god, there was a lot of smoke.鈥�
Vallee, who uses a walker, made it down her staircase with one of her four poodle-maltese dogs.
Outside, after realizing three of her dogs were still inside, she went back inside in an attempt to rescue the remaining dogs.
Vallee said she couldn鈥檛 find them.
鈥淚 called them but they were probably passed out at that time. Just breathing that stuff, I鈥檒l tell you, that inhalation is a killer.鈥�
When she returned outside, she collapsed on the grass, and her memory is blurry after that. She was taken to Surrey Memorial Hospital, where she has remained.
Her sister, Cathy Cook, said the firemen told her to give Vallee heck for going back inside.
鈥淭hey said if she had been in there 30 more seconds she would鈥檝e died,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淪he already has emphysema.鈥�
Vallee nodded.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檓 in here,鈥� she said of her smoke inhalation. 鈥淭hey had me on medication for quite some time, and oxygen. I鈥檓 coughing smoke up, and cinder. I even coughed a chunk of cinder up.鈥�
Vallee is distraught after the loss.
鈥淭hey were all girls,鈥� Vallee said of her dogs, her voice breaking. 鈥淭hey all had the same parents.鈥�
Two of the dogs who perished, Onyx and Princess, were 11. Missy, who is from the same litter as the surviving dog Precious, also died.
鈥淚 sure miss those guys. They gave me a lot of good years anyway. I pulled them out (during birth),鈥� she added. 鈥淚 cry at the drop of a hat. Dogs are like family. I was so close to my dogs. I didn鈥檛 have any friends, my dogs were my friends because my friends screwed me up so bad.鈥�
In addition to grieving her animals, Vallee is left to worry about where she will live and how she will replace her belongings that were lost in the fire.
鈥淚 have nothing. Absolutely nothing. Every bloody thing I owned is gone,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his hospital has been very good to me. They鈥檝e let me stay here. I鈥檓 going to have to go pretty soon.鈥�
As of Monday morning, Vallee still didn鈥檛 have a place to live.
The sisters were going to look at a temporary suite, offered through Facebook, later in the day.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe this is actually happening,鈥� said Vallee.
On Thursday (Aug. 10), Cook started a
The initial goal was $1,000, but as of Monday morning the fundraising page had surpassed $2,000. Cook estimates her sister will need about $5,000 in all.
Cook hopes people can donate clothes, size 10 to 12, or second-hand furniture, household items, non-perishable items and dog food.
Vallee鈥檚 downstairs neighbour Esther Walls, who is caring for the surviving dog Precious for Vallee until she鈥檚 able to, urged the public to donate.
鈥淢y family did a GoFundMe account for me and I have had an amazing response, but Donna has nothing,鈥� Walls said. 鈥淚 am fortunate, in the industry I work in, (people) have given to me, including co-workers and extended family, but Donna most likely will not have that kind of support, so could do with assistance from the public.鈥�
To donate, or get in touch with Vallee鈥檚 family, visit the donation page at
