RED DEER -- A close friend of the family involved in the multi-mobile home fire last Friday in Red Deer County has started a GoFundMe.
The fire occurred at Les’s Trailer Park around 1 a.m. on Feb. 28.
The fire was said to have started in one home, spread to a second, and caused damage to a third.
Sarah Arlidge lived in one of the homes that caught on fire with her boyfriend, Chris Pozzolo, and her three children.
Seven-year-old Charlotte died during the incident, three-year-old Sammy suffered a burn on his arm, and five-year-old Benjamin is in hospital in serious but stable conditions.
READ MORE: Child, 7, dead after fire at central Alta. mobile home park
Arlidge is also in hospital in an induced coma and is receiving skin grafts daily according Jodi Bisio, a friend of Arlidge.
Bisio said she was driving when she found out the horrible news that a fire had occurred at her best friend’s trailer home.
She immediately went to go see Arlidge at the hospital, and that’s where she realized she needed to help in some way.
“Seeing the way she looked got me to realize, you know, she’s not going to be able to do this alone,” said Bisio.
She organized the “Helping these kids FIGHT” GoFundMe page with the hope the funds would help the family in their time of need.
“I did what any other best friend would do and I know she would do it for me.”
Bisio wrote on the GoFundMe page: “The whole word knows that Charlotte is gone and Sarah has no clue, she is in induced coma and doesn’t know exactly what her world is about to be if she waked up.”
When asked what kind of child Charlotte was, Bisio said she had a lively personality and loved to draw and play piano.
“Charlotte could light up a room with her smile.”
“We loved getting her little journals and she would write letters back and forth to me and that was our thing.”
As for Sammy, he hasn’t been told what happened to his mother, brother, and sister.
“He’s confused, very confused,” said Bisio.
“It’s going to take a while for everybody to come together and figure out how we are gonna tell Sammy about this, but it’s going to be hard.”
The GoFundMe has reached its goal of $10,000, but is still accepting donations. Bisio said the outpour of community support has been amazing.
“We just want to say thank you to everybody for doing what they’ve been doing. The love and support is overwhelming.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.