Cape Breton seniors who lost long-time home in fire overwhelmed by community support

TOWER ROAD, N.S. -

A Cape Breton couple is counting their blessings after making it out of their long-time home that was destroyed by fire on Monday.

On Tuesday, Russell and Marie Mauger were in their neighbour's kitchen surrounded by family and friends.

Less than 24 hours earlier, they had narrowly escaped their burning home.

"I never got much sleep last night because when I closed my eyes, I would see my house. But we're all out, we're safe. That's good enough. I'm thankful," said Marie.

The couple had lived in the home on Tower Road for 40 years. When it burned to the ground Monday morning, mementoes from 64 years of marriage were lost within minutes.

"Pictures of the kids, my parents, his [Russell's] parents, my grandparents' pictures. All gone," said Marie, who added that all their wedding photos were also lost.

A GoFundMe page has been started to help the couple. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, it had already raised more than $4,400.

"They knew we were left with nothing but what we had on our backs," said Russell.

Already, Russell has a new pair of glasses and says a pair of reading glasses are on the way for his wife after a local optometrist saw their story and wanted to help.

Some other basic essentials have also been donated.

"Food and clothing, jackets and pants," said Russell. "Neighbours come, you know, [with] boxes of clothes. Mostly clothes."

"Everything is gone," said Marie. "But we're alive. That's it. They could have had a double funeral."

The Maugers say they're not normally comfortable accepting help from people. However, in this case, they didn't have much of a choice.

"Oh, God almighty, [I] can't thank them enough," said Russell.

The couple's home used to be where the family would gather for a big holiday get together. Now, they'll have to start a new tradition this year.

Still, Russell and Marie are counting their blessings and have a message for those who have lent a hand so far.

"I wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Anybody that gave us anything or helped us, you know, Merry Christmas to everybody," said Russell.

The couple says they do have insurance, which will help ease some of the financial burden.

There's still no official word on the cause of the fire.