A family of five is without a home after a devastating house fire Wednesday night north of the city.

“It’s been a rough night and rough day trying to figure out what to do now,” Elwood Richards, who owned the home on Spooner Road, told the Whig-Standard Thursday afternoon. “It’s kind of gut-wrenching right now, just trying to piece together places to stay, get some clothes together and stuff like that.”

At around 10:50 p.m., 64-year-old Richards was relaxing and watching television with his family: Jamie-Lee, Ashlyn, Jake and Shawn. All was well until Jake told his grandfather he could smell smoke coming from one of the bedrooms. Richards opened the door to the bedroom and it was flooded with a thick cloud of smoke.

“It was too smoky to go in and try and find the problem,” Richards said.

Too far gone to do anything, the family — including dogs Louie, Chewy and Misty — evacuated with just the clothes on their backs. While Richards and Ashlyn quickly slipped on some rubber boots, Jamie-Lee and Shawn were barefoot. Two budgie birds also made it out of the home but they had suffocated in their cage.

Jamie-Lee called 911 immediately and Kingston Fire and Rescue were on scene within 10 minutes, but Richards said it was too late. He’d lived there since the spring of 1998.

“There was nothing they could do,” Richards said. “It wasn’t worth somebody getting injured going in there.”

Kingston Fire and Rescue fire inspector Clinton Debroy said crews from four stations responded to the scene. When they arrived, the home was engulfed but firefighters were able to quickly knock down the fire.

Richards, who works in a field crew with Leslie M. Higginson Surveying, said initial investigations indicate the fire was likely electrical, starting at a plug that powered a television in the bedroom. Damage is estimated at $250,000, but Richards no longer had insurance.

“I just finished paying my mortgage and my fire insurance was on with the mortgage,” Richards said. “When [the mortgage] ended, they cut the insurance … that’s the part that really hurts.”

Richards, who was still wearing the same clothes on Thursday as he escaped with Wednesday night, said the family may be staying at a motel, but if not, they’ll head to their cottage.

“But it’s not winterized and there’ll be no running water, but we can turn the heat on,” Richards said.

To help the family relocate and rebuild their lives, friends and family have set up gofundme.com fundraising pages. They are “Richards Family Support Fund,” set up by Leslie M. Higginson Surveying, and “Family’s house tragedy fundraiser,” set up by Richards’ granddaughter Taylor. As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraisers had raised nearly $1,900. Richards’ neighbour also dropped off a very generous cheque to help his friend.

“Wow,” Richards said when he heard how much had been raised online. “That’s great. People are pretty nice.”

He said the cash will first go to food and clothing, but now it’s time to look forward.

“It’s over now. All I can do is start recuperating,” Richards said. “One day at a time, just like everybody else that goes through it. … If things go OK, I’d like to rebuild here. It’s a nice neighbourhood.”

scrosier@postmedia.com

Twitter: @StephattheWhig