Gabby's Recovery Fund

Hi friends, thank you for taking the time to read this. Our dear friend Gabby Keiran lost her apartment in Edmonton due to a horrendous fire that broke out in the middle of the night, on January 26th, 2024. Thankfully, Gabby is okay and hasn’t suffered any severe injuries. However, she has lost everything and will have to start rebuilding her life from the ground up. We’ve created this GoFundMe to help her in a time of need.

Gabby is working her way to obtaining a masters in Communications and Technology at the University of Alberta. She has been an artist all her life and has followed her passions for art, music and reading while starting her career and building her home in Edmonton. She grew up in Calgary and moved to Edmonton as a student. On top of pursuing her own arts, Gabby is an active supporter of the art scenes in both cities as well as the LGBTQ+ communities. In both communities she is often referred to as a kind, caring and incredibly warm person. Always there to lend a helping hand and to brighten up a friend’s gloomy day.

On Friday, January 26th a fire broke out around 12:30 am on the first floor of her 4-story apartment building. Gabby’s apartment was on the 4th floor, so she wasn’t aware of the situation until she was woken up by the sound of a massive explosion of glass on the main floor. She woke up in a frenzy and rushed to the window to see what was happening. Outside were police vehicles surrounding her building. Terrified, she rushed to the front door, grabbed her glasses, boots, coat, keys, and phone, and left her apartment. The hallway was already filled with smoke, both accessible stairwells filling with more and more smoke by the minute. Due to her balcony being out of commission and fearing her extended exposure to the smoke in the hall, Gabby ended up on one of her neighbour’s balconies along with 8 other tenants, awaiting the firefighters’ arrival. The upper floor was starting to be enveloped by flames as the fire quickly made its way to the back of the building where the balcony was. While Gabby waited on the balcony, she made a phone call that most of us hope to never have to make to our closest ones, worried that the worst might come to pass. Thankfully, the fire trucks arrived after what felt like an eternity. The waiting was the worst part. Everyone on the balcony was able to get back on the ground with the help of the firefighters, however 7 people were hospitalized from the incident. More details regarding the situation can be found on this CTV article here: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/fire-breaks-out-while-edmonton-police-carry-out-court-order-7-people-hospitalized-1.6743323

Here's an interview with Gabby that includes further details:

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/red-deer/i-was-collateral-resident-frustrated-over-lack-of-warning-after-fire-breaks-out-during-police-operation-1.6746089

Thankfully, Gabby is currently safe and is spending her residence with her loving aunt and uncle in Edmonton. Unfortunately, this event has caused Gabby to lose absolutely everything. Her whole apartment and all her belongings were severely damaged, either by the flames or by the water of the fire fighters attempting to extinguish the fire. Seeing as she has to pay rent while paying student expenses, this unfortunate situation has added an unbearable financial burden on an already expensive day to day life. In addition to this, Gabby was involved in two car accidents within the span of the last 2 years, one of which involved her getting hit by a truck while crossing the pedestrian crosswalk. Although she’s strong and she’s quick to bounce back, this time is different and will be much harder to recover from.

This GoFundMe is created to help Gabby get back on her feet from a very difficult situation. We appreciate any help or donation, no matter how small. We ask that you share this article amongst your community to help support the awareness of the circumstances. Recovering from a devastating situation, such as this one is impossible to do without the help of others, so we truly appreciate your kindness. Thank you.