The entire building where Liza Labossière and Zachary Lussier lived burned down last month in Sainte-Madeleine. Now in Carignan, the young couple in their twenties are looking to relaunch their painting business in Chambly.
At 20 and 23, Liza Labossière and Zachary Lussier are experiencing the best and worst at the same time. Pregnant, the young woman is expecting the happy event in a month and a half. But for the moment, the young couple is not in the best conditions to welcome little Lyana. The fault lies in a fire that ravaged everything in the family home.
“As I went out to smoke in front of my house, I saw a fire at the neighbor’s,” says Zachary Lussier. “The residents yelled at me to go get everyone in the building to THE evacuate. It happened in a matter of minutes!” Residents of Sainte-Madeleine, north of Marieville, the two young adults saw their apartment go up in smoke along with all their belongings. “We had barely moved in a month,” says the young man. “We were shopping for insurance. We lost everything. Since the Sainte-Madeleine firefighters were volunteers, they didn’t have all the equipment to fight the fire. It took them 45 minutes to start spraying our building. They first had to put out the fire that was raging in the neighbor’s garage, where the fire was coming from, because he had propane tanks. Nine firefighters were injured during the intervention.”
Exorbitantly high rents
Originally from Chambly, Liza Labossière, along with her partner, found temporary refuge with her mother in Carignan. “My mother was very understanding,” she explains. “But we had barely finished negotiating to find a place to live when we had to go back. It’s quite stressful because the rent is very high and we want to find a suitable place to accommodate our child. But for now, it’s really okay where we are.” Zachary Lussier would like his family to settle in Chambly or Carignan. “We were paying $900 a month for rent and here, the monthly payments are at least $1,300 in the best case scenario. This makes us think about other cities where we can move.”
In addition to the personal aspect, the couple must restart their professional life and their company ZL Peinture. “We are not receiving unemployment benefits because we have our own company,” explains Zachary Lussier. “Unfortunately, all our paint stock and equipment disappeared in the fire. We had to reimburse some customers, while others are showing patience. We are currently approaching other people for deposits to restart the company, whose head office is in Chambly. But it is really not easy because we are starting from nothing and supplies are expensive. Currently, we are living on our savings.”
Solidarity
A solidarity chain was created to support the six households affected by the disaster. “The city of Sainte-Madeleine found appliances for us and had collected a kitty that it will distribute among all the people,” explains Liza Labossière. “But it’s really difficult, because all our furniture is burned or moldy from the water that was used to put out the fire.”
Zachary Lussier, who celebrated his birthday the day after the fire, relived the scene. “I saw the roof collapse on our apartment. But we’re still alive, that’s the main thing.”
https://www.gofundme.com/f/sinistres-de-saintemadeleine
