INUVIK - Inuvik residents are collecting donations to help an Aklavik family rebuild their lives after a fire destroyed their home last week.

A pile of debris and scattered belongings is all that remains of Philip and Lori-Anne Elanik's home in Aklavik. The house they shared with their six children burned to the ground on the evening of Jan. 13. Friends and family in Inuvik are collecting donations of clothing and household items for the Elaniks. - Katie May/NNSL photo

Philip Elanik, 32, is recovering in an Edmonton hospital after he and a family friend helped his wife, Lori-Anne Elanik, and five of their children escape the blaze Jan. 13. The fire - the cause of which is being investigated by the NWT fire marshal's office - started that evening and volunteer firefighters weren't able to extinguish it because they were battling strong winds.

To prepare for Philip's return from the hospital, family and friends in Inuvik are collecting donations of clothes and other household items to help the children - aged three to pre-teen - and their parents rebuild their lives.

Philip's sister Danny Elanik said donations started flooding in the day after the fire. The family is particularly in need of children's clothes and shoes, and has already received clothing to send to Philip in Edmonton. In addition, they have received a television, some furniture and monetary donations, including $1,000 from the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers. Philip, who recently recovered from stomach cancer, had been heavily involved in drum dancing in Aklavik.

"That's how it is up here. Everybody's got everybody's back and it's amazing," Danny said, her voice breaking with emotion.

While Philip is in the hospital being treated for burns and smoke inhalation, he's being lauded by community members for his heroic efforts in rescuing the children, who are now staying with family.

Danny Elanik said she has faith her brother will be all right.

"He's an incredible, strong person. He's one of those people who'd go days without eating just to have his kids eat," his sister said. "You know how a mother bear hugs her cubs to keep them warm? That's him. He'll be the barrier to everything to know that everyone else is safe. He's very selfless."

Lori-Anne declined to be interviewed, but her mother, Irene Illisiak, said the rest of the family was doing fine. The couple's sixth child was not in the house at the time of the fire.

"They took them all down to the nurses' station right after the fire and they got them all checked out. They're all OK," she said, adding she has no idea how the fire started.

"They never talked about it, so I never asked."

Now all that remains of the family home is a pile of rubble on its lot near the end of the street. A now-frozen water tank and the wooden railing connected to the front steps that had led into the two-storey housing unit are all that have stayed intact amid the blackened siding, broken furniture, equipment and even a left winter boot that lay strewn under layers of snow and ice.

Bernice Furlong, a relative of the Elaniks', said she opened her Inuvik home to gather donations right after she heard about the fire, thinking a few other family members would drop things off. Instead, she was surprised by how quickly the community rallied to help.

"I thought it would be just within the family, and then with one e-mail it just became a trend," she said, adding she has received more than 50 boxes of food, clothing and furniture that have already been taken by van to Aklavik.

"I just think in times of need the communities need to pull together and help anybody in any way that they can. It shouldn't be tragic, you know. It shouldn't be tragic at all times. We should just be there to help support anyone," Furlong said.

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