Marvin Gibbs raised his five children in the community and grew up in the area himself. Neighbour Michelle Trudzik said she used to work for him even before moving across the street and will remember him for his selflessness.

“There is so much you can say about Marvin, oh my God that guy had a heart of gold,” Trudzik said inside her home Saturday morning. “I’ve never ever known Marvin to hold a grudge or be mad at anyone ever. He had the biggest heart … and everyone knew him. He lived for his kids and grandchildren.”

Effie Gibbs, Marvin’s sister-in-law, said Marvin and Janet had full custody of the three kids, children of Janet’s daughter. They had been guardians of the kids for over a year in their Rochfort Bridge home.

Janet and Marvin married in 2012, said Shallock while sharing a photo of the couple, and they could always be found by each other’s side.

“They loved each other very much, they were almost never apart. If you saw dad somewhere, you saw Janet,” she said.

Shallock and her husband looked around the property where the house once stood, and then walked across the snow-covered street for a heartfelt hug with Janet’s youngest son and brother.

Benedict Alexis, 24, said his mother had a big heart and loved caring for her grandchildren.

“They were happy kids, every time I came here I would … make sure I always bring them cookies. They love their cookies,” said Alexis, overcome with emotion.

Fire crews responded to the house 10 km southeast of Mayerthorpe around 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The blaze destroyed the home and neighbours said it was taken down completely by a backhoe Friday.

One person was found dead inside the home around 1:30 a.m. Friday, but the search was delayed until the fire was completely extinguished. The four other occupants were found dead around 9 a.m, RCMP said in a news release Friday afternoon.

Mike Hermann, a longtime neighbour just across the street, said he was one of the first people to respond after he saw flames emerging from the back of the home, Thursday afternoon. He said he immediately called 911 and then banged on the home with several other residents.

Neighbours say Marvin had a wood-fire stove in the back to heat the home.

When Hermann moved into the community 25 years ago, he said Marvin Gibbs was already living there and operated a welding shop on the property. Gibbs also worked as a welder in Edmonton, Hermann recalled, but before that served as the chief of the hamlet’s volunteer firefighters unit.

Schallock said she was stunned after hearing of the blaze and is hoping to get answers soon on the cause.

“There’s a lot of shock and a sense of feeling that it’s unreal,” she said.

RCMP said the investigation is ongoing, but the fire isn’t being ruled as suspicious. An update on the cause of the fire is expected early next week following a report from the Office of the Fire Commissioner, RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Laurel Scott told Postmedia Saturday afternoon.