Community rallies around mother, son after Kinburn blaze ‘flattens’ their home
Posted Mar 6, 2025 01:34:45 PM.
Last Updated Mar 8, 2025 10:51:43 AM.
Jesse Lalonde and his mother Karen escaped serious injuries before flames engulfed their Kinburn home in a matter of minutes.
It happened just before 6:30 a.m. late February, when Lalonde awoke to the sound of the fire alarm blaring in the single-detached home in the northwest portion of the city. Running downstairs he found his mom and flames in the living room of the house.
“I tried to put it out but it wasn’t enough,” Lalonde told CityNews in an interview. “What you start to notice most is the smoke darkening the room and you almost wonder, ‘Did I waste too much time already?’ You just have to get out right away.”
By the time Lalonde was downstairs, the fire had spread to an armchair in the living room. Understanding he did not have enough experience to know if he could douse the flames, Lalonde grabbed his cat Mesha, and his mom and ran.
Firefighters were called at 6:28 a.m. and reported they saw “billowing smoke” before they even got to the home. Flames had already burned both sides of the house and crews saw Lamonde and his mother standing outside in the cold.
Thankfully neighbours across the street saw the commotion and came out to help the two who didn’t even have time to put shoes on, escaping any serious injuries with just the clothes on their backs.
The blaze spread so quickly, Lalonde recalled. Firefighters could not get inside and had to attack flames from the outside. They used multiple hose lines and doused the blaze for hours. This portion of the city is rural, meaning crews had to truck in water from a nearby source to upkeep their efforts.
Propane tanks beside the house created a hazard for teams and took resources from crews to spray them consistently to make sure they stayed cool until they could be shut off.
A house known for Christmas lights and gardens
At 8:38 a.m. the blaze was declared under control and just remnants remained of the once beautiful gardens and quaint house that Lalonde grew up in, and Karen called home for over 35 years.
While his mom’s early onset dementia progressed, Lalonde had been working part-time as a software developer while being a full-time caregiver to Karen, who is well known in the community for going above and beyond with her holiday lights.
“I always thought that pilots would appreciate the emergency air strip that it offered, because they’d run along the driveway,” Lalonde laughed.
For years Karen wanted to bring joy to the small community by decorating her home in twinkling lights that could be seen just off in the distance. It was something Karen enjoyed doing on top of being active in her community.
Recently, the family learned she helped found a nursery school in the area and volunteered for countless neighbourhood festivities and organizations.
“She’s a very gifted communicator, won awards as well for some of her writing,” Lalonde’s aunt, Britta Runtz said of Karen. “She’s one of those types of women that she’s great at everything she tries to do.”
Another passion of Karen’s was photos, Lalonde said, saying she kept photos of community events for years down the road, showcasing the history of the area. She also had a lot of time to travel, with photos of Mongolia and Peru posted on her social media.
Runtz said everything, including their birth certificates, IDs and phones were lost to the fire. This has made it extremely difficult for Lalonde and his mother to access any of their personal records and finances.
“It’s really kind of starting from scratch,” Lalonde said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help Lalonde and his mom start to rebuild their lives, which the community has quickly been fulfilling.
“I just never would have imagined…it gives me hope in a lot of ways, because everybody’s really struggling…they’ve got so much going on,” Lalonde said holding in his emotion. “It’s never seemed the happiest times and for people to want to help…”
Runtz said Karen has been so grateful in an “overwhelming positive” way.
Lalonde and Karen are staying with Runtz and her husband while trying to recover from the traumatic event. Firefighters told CityNews that an investigation into how the fire started was “inconclusive” due to the lack of evidence they could gather from the blaze.
“We’d like to thank everyone on behalf of everyone who’s contributed within the community,” Runtz said.
