Two young buskers from Toronto are marvelling at Maritime generosity after a fire ripped through the home where they were staying, destroying their few possessions.
Alex Shaw was a restoration contractor in Toronto and Dayna Pirso was a head waitress.
Known as Captain Cowboy and the Moneymaker, both gave up their jobs for the nomadic life of busking.
"I’d rather be scared and afraid than working a square job,” says Shaw.
After hitchhiking to Halifax, they found a place to stay through a free accommodation website. Things were going well until last Wednesday, when a fire spread quickly through the duplex in Eastern Passage, destroying both homes with remarkable speed.
Pirso and Shaw were working the waterfront when they received a call from their host.
"Tell me you're lying to me because that's not funny. And he's like, 'No I’m not lying,’” says Pirso.
Careless use of smoking materials is the official cause of the fire. The pair lost most of their possessions, but less than a week later, everything has been replaced.
That’s because the story hit a local website, and donations immediately started rolling in.
Now, less than a week later, almost everything's been replaced and they're looking for ways to give back to the community that helped them.
"It's inspiring me already,” says Pirso. “I want to volunteer more and I want to give back to this community that's given so much to me already."
"It's just been great. It all worked out. The universe helped us out and Halifax too,” says Shaw.
The couple says they're content in Halifax for the time being, and amazing at the generosity shown to them.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko.
