A family of five who lost their home Sunday to fire on Main Street in Canaan and are staying in a camper on a relative’s land hope to rebuild, fire Chief Troy Bowden said Tuesday.
Tanya and David McGregor, 37 and 48, respectively, and their three daughters, ages 14 to 17, lost all of their belongings in the fire, which started when an open kettle of grease used for cooking french fries boiled over.
David McGregor “swore right up and down he was rebuilding on that property,” Bowden said Tuesday. “That’s what he said he was going to try to do.”
Bowden said the water in the cellar wasn’t up to the bottom of a new heating system installed recently in the home, so it may be salvageable. “A little bit of drying out, I think, and it will be usable,” he said.
David McGregor’s mother, Glenice Woodman, said the family is accepting donations of items, and the Canaan Fire Auxiliary is accepting monetary donations as well, according to Bowden.
The American Red Cross is helping the family also. Susan Schmidt, administrative volunteer for the American Red Cross’s Portland office said Tuesday that people may donate to the Red Cross, but it can’t guarantee the money will go to a specific family.
Meanwhile, Bowden said he doesn’t know what the family’s finances are, but one could move fairly quickly on rebuilding a house on the site, which already has a foundation. Cleaning up the debris from the fire might take a couple of weeks, Bowden said.
“I hate to see anybody uninsured,” he said.
David McGregor said at the fire scene Sunday that he and his wife had been paying $300 a month to rent the one-story, three-bedroom house for about a year; and about 14 months ago the owners, who are elderly, just gave the house to them because they were pleased with how they took care of the place and paid their rent. Their daughters attend Skowhegan Area High School.
Item donations can be dropped off at Woodman’s home at 306 Canaan Road, Skowhegan, and monetary ones can be mailed to the Canaan Fire Auxiliary at P.O. Box 311, Canaan, ME 04924. Donors should stipulate on checks that the money is for the McGregor family
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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