Black Diamond residents are banding together to offer some relief to a competitive barrel racer who lost her belongings in a house fire last week.
Nikki Holmes managed to save her three dogs, some prize belt buckles, her father’s chaps and a few other important items, but lost everything else when the chimney in her rental home near Black Diamond caught fire the evening of Oct. 10.
“She’s having a really hard time with it,” said friend John Corson, who considers Holmes a daughter. “She’s still in a lot of shock.”
Corson set up a trust fund for Holmes at ATB Financial and has been asking people in the community to contribute to it to help Holmes get back on her feet. He set the limit to $20,000.
“I reached out right away and the response has been phenomenal,” he said, adding he’s also collecting bedding and clothing at his home. “She cancelled her house insurance to save money, that’s why it’s so heart wrenching. Basically she’s got to start over.”
Corson, who met Holmes while doing renovation work on her rental shortly after she moved to Black Diamond about two years ago, said the two hit it off immediately.
She calls him “dad” and “uncle,” after having lost her father about 10 years ago.
Corson was the first person Holmes called when disaster struck.
“I got the call at about 10:30,” he said. “All I heard was, ‘Oh my God, Daddy, my house is on fire!’ When I pulled up there was so much smoke that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.”
Holmes was also able to salvage a few items including two pulse magnetic frequency machines she uses to treat horses and people, said Corson.
“She said when she went back in after the power went out the ceiling started going in different spots and started to drop down,” he said. “She was going back and forth into the house to grab what she could and she said the doorbell kept ringing. She had no idea where the door was when she was inside. Her eyes were closed and she had a scarf over her face, feeling with her hands. That doorbell guided her.”
After the blaze was distinguished by firefighters, Corson and Holmes entered the house.
“When we went into the house to get her dog’s medication - the fire marshal let us in - the only spot on the wall that was untouched were her dad’s chaps – everything else was toast,” he said. “It was a blessing when we saw those chaps up there. It was pretty incredible.”
Holmes’ mother Wendy Aikins, who was visiting her daughter from Fort Macleod at the time of the blaze, said the two heard a strange noise coming from the roof.
“We were like, what is that noise?’” recalls Aikins. “We shut off the TV and listened for a moment. She went out the back and I went out the front and I came back in and said, ‘There’s smoke, call 911.’”
They quickly moved the dogs into Aikins’ vehicle before Holmes rushed back in to retrieve as many items as she could.
“Her dad’s saddle was one of the first things,” Aikins said. “The lights went out really fast and things got smoky really fast.”
Fire departments from Black Diamond, Turner Valley, Longview and Okotoks soon arrived, as well as
the Foothills fire chief, RCMP and EMS.
“The volunteer fire departments were amazing,” said Aikins. “They were like a well-oiled machine.”
Mother and daughter moved Holmes’ eight horses into the barn and stayed with them throughout the night to keep them calm and fed. Aikins said the firefighters filled the horses’ troughs with water.
Black Diamond Fire Chief Jamie Campbell said the fire originated in the chimney.
Anyone wanting to support Nikki Holmes can make a contribution at ATB Financial under John Trust Corson in care for Nikki Holmes or on Facebook at Nikki Emergency Fundraiser.
