Saskatoon neighbourhood bands together after fire destroys homes on Geary Crescent

In the aftermath of a massive fire in Saskatoon’s Hampton Village neighbourhood, community members are coming together to support the families that lost everything.

On Friday, a massive fire tore through parts of Geary Crescent, in the city’s Hampton Village neighbourhood, completely destroying four homes and damaging 20 other properties.

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That fire has left families without their homes and possessions, but thanks to some support from their community, they’re getting a helping hand.

Troy Davies, the city councillor for Ward 4, said it’s been an astonishing thing to witness.

“I’m just honoured to be a part of this community. You see a sense of pride that you’re a part of people who just want to help each other,” Davies said.

“That doesn’t happen in all major cities, and we’re becoming larger and larger by the minute in the city of Saskatoon, and sometimes you can lose that identity, and I think this is a clear message that we haven’t lost that, and that Saskatoon is still an amazing place to live, where neighbours will help neighbours.”

Davies said the community support has been wide ranging, with lots of donations of money and clothing coming in to help the affected families. As of Monday, there were six online fundraiser pages raising money for families directly impacted by the fires. So far, those pages have raised more than $80,000.

“When someone’s in complete devastation, even for them to go on social media and see those levels of support or offers of support when someone’s in their worst possible time in their life and they’re going through this, I think it’s just helpful to know that they’re not alone and that Saskatoon supports its communities,” said Davies.

Davies said he saw the fire while it was burning, and was shocked by its ferocity.

“From blocks away, you could see actual flames coming out into the sky, and with the wind conditions the way they were, it was devastating,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. With my previous history with emergency services and responding to backup fire on calls, we would see fires, but nothing like that, and that had the potential to not only take out four to five houses. It could have been the entire block,” said Davies.

A total of 32 firefighters were called in to fight that fire, working alongside two aerial units, four engines, a rescue unit and a battalion chief. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.