A Terrace family is asking for support after their home was left uninhabitable by sewage flooding, as well as a fire, that occurred on Feb. 1.
The City of Terrace hired Daudet Creek Contracting to upsize the sanitary sewer main between Graham Avenue and the City’s Sewer Treatment Plant. It was being upsized to increase the flow, as identified in the City’s Sanitary Master Plan.
“There was, unfortunately, an incident that resulted in a sewage back-up,” said the City in a statement.
This incident affected not only the Brown’s home, but multiple homes in the neighbourhood near the Sewage Treatment Plant. Other homeowners affected have chosen not to comment for the sake of privacy.
Built in 1968, the house has been the Brown family’s home since 1999. This is the third time their home has been flooded, although it is the first time they have dealt with sewage flooding. The house is located less than a kilometre from the plant.
The family says the sewage burst into their home from a drain in their laundry room in the basement. Later that day, they said their washing machine caught on fire as the sewage came into contact with electrical wiring, causing a short circuit.
Fortunately, Gerald Brown, a retired RCMP officer of 22 years, was able to put it out with soaked blankets.
The family living in the house at the time includes Gerald and Angie Brown, two of their three biological children, one of their four foster children, two grandchildren and their Chihuahua, K’alii aks.
“Hell and back”
“We’ve definitely been better,” said Angie, who works for Gitlaxdax Nisga’a Terrace Society’s outreach program. “We’ve been through hell and back this last month.”
“We lost almost all our beds, including two queen size beds, a crib, a bunk bed and a single bed. The kids lost their dressers, their lamps, anything that was plugged into their TV. Our couches downstairs. All of our blankets, all of our clothes. We literally have a basket of clothes each for six of us,” she said.
The day of the flood is etched in their memory.
“Our youngest daughter came running upstairs. ‘Mommy, daddy, it’s wet all over downstairs.’ We run down and it was like a fire hydrant was coming through our floor,” Angie said. “It was going all over the place. My husband stuffed the hole with a blanket. We started throwing all of our blankets and towels, the kids’ clothes for laundry.”
They began to realize it was useless trying to stop it because it would start again and again. The sewage seeped through and went throughout the basement. After cleaning up everything they could, they went to their parents’ house for dinner.
“We were gone maybe an hour and a half, two hours tops,” Angie said. “We left our little dog, our chihuahua, at home, because we thought we’re going to be back soon,” she said. “We get home and Kwa’s barking like crazy because smoke was already down to the floor. I’m freaking out, you couldn’t see, it was smouldering. The stench was horrendous too because it was sewage,”
The sewage that burst into their basement from the laundry room caused an electrical fire with their washing machine, according to the family.
“My husband managed to get the fire out himself after smothering it with soaked blankets. He was screaming at me to get kids out of the house because he didn’t know if it was going to start up again. He carried the washer out himself,” she said.
“We were coughing, hacking away like crazy because of the stench. We had to open up all the windows upstairs, open the door,” she said.
For the next several days, they stayed at their parents’ house. On Monday, Angie had to call into work because the family had to rent garbage containers from Geier Waste Services Ltd.
“It was minus -16, doing all of the work on our own. My husband, our adult kids, and son-in-law doing all of the work, getting everything out of the house in the freezing cold,” shared Angie.
“We noticed our neighbour was dealing with the same thing. We looked around and we’re like, ‘what the hell is going on here?’ He came over to ask if we were moving out or if anything happened, and Gerald explained the situation.”
The neighbour told them to go talk to the contractors.
Current situation
After talking to Daudet, the company paid for their accommodation at the Skeena River B&B from Feb. 7 to 10, and then an AirBnbB from Feb. 10 to 22.
Daudet also provided “$1,500 for necessities and arranged for a renovation company to assess the damage and start remediation until the Brown’s insurance company took over,” said Shaun Oviatt, owner of Daudet Creek, in a statement.
The family has been on their own since Feb. 22. Their insurance only covers fixing the basement, not interim accommodations.
Universal Restoration Systems is currently fixing their basement.
Since Feb. 22, the Brown’s paid for their AirBnB through fundraising with raffles with drums made by Gerald as the prize. But they were running out of funds to continue paying for temporary accommodations and were anxious to go home.
Gerald notes that Daudet Creek has been “very apologetic” and “helpful.”
The Browns returned to their home March 2 — a home that has one bed, one borrowed air mattress, and one couch left for six of them to use.
“It’s a good ol’ house. I’m too old to start over again,” said Gerald. “We’re used to it, you know? You just learn to live with it. Growing up, we used to have five families in one home.”
Holly Harris, a cousin of Gerald’s and a friend of Angie’s, has organized a on their behalf with a goal of raising $15,000. As of Mar. 2, they have raised $1,025, some of which has gone towards blankets and cleaning supplies.
The Gitxsan family, is asking for the support of nearby communities. They appreciate any help that they can get.
“This family is so deserving of support,” Harris said. “They are some of the most active and selfless members of our community. They’ve always been there to lend a hand, whether it’s helping with local events, advocating for positive change in our northern B.C. region, or supporting cultural initiatives. They dedicate their lives to their family, their culture, and working in social services to uplift and support others. Their impact has been felt far beyond our community.”
Gerald volunteers in schools and colleges, as well as for Search and Rescue. He also assists the Coroners Service in Terrace.
“We just saw them at the 2025 Hoobiyee and they’re in a cultural dance group and they were performing together,” Harris shared. “They were able to salvage their regalia from the flood and represent at the hope celebration that just happened.”
“I work in outreach, I work with homeless people,” said Angie. “There’s nothing like lived experience. My dad always told me, anybody is a paycheque away from living on the streets and to always be humble, treat people the way you want to be treated, because it could be you.”
