Stephen Flood

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Tragedy struck early last Christmas morning for Stephen Flood. The Dorval resident woke to find his house in flames. He managed to escape with his life, suffering second-degree burns to his legs, face, and head. But he lost everything in the fire, including his beloved dog, Bella.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Flood by his son, Matthew.

The fire broke out around 3 a.m. The house on O’Connell Avenue was completely destroyed and Flood lost everything, including a valuable collection of Montreal Expos baseball memorabilia, and Christmas gifts meant for family.

“Most tragic of all,” his son wrote on the GoFundMe page, “is that his poor little dog Bella, a two-year-old puppy he loved so dearly, didn’t make it out.”

Flood said he could hear her whimpering inside the burning house but could not get back inside to save her.

“To lose every single thing you own is unimaginable, but the loss of his little Bella hurts him most of all,” Flood’s son said. “We are trying to do what we can while his body heals from burns and his heart heals from the tragic loss of his angel.”

There has already been a show of support from the community in the way of donations, including clothes. Matthew Flood posted his gratitude on his Facebook page, adding that his father could use household items or gift cards for groceries and other supplies.

Just over $15,000 has been donated via the GoFundMe page, so far.

At the time of this writing investigators still don’t know what caused the fire. n