How a Hamilton man lost his home and two dogs in a year

John Pilon remembers turning the key maybe one-eighth of an inch in the ignition when - kaboom - the cab of his Dodge Ram pickup was suddenly engulfed in flames.

Giant tornadoes of pure orange flame literally filled the entire cab," he said.

Pilon felt himself about to pass out but managed to get his finger on the handle, opened the door and plopped on the gravel road like a sack of cement." He rolled maybe 10 times.

When he turned back, there wasn't a sound coming from Noodles, his almost two-year-old Doberman in the pickup. Flames were shooting 15 feet high and there was nothing he could do, he recalls.

Noodles was my baby, she was part of my body," Pilon said.

This fire on Safari Road on the Victoria Day long weekend capped off a series of devastating events for the Hamilton man, who went from working, having two dogs and money in the bank to being homeless and not caring if he lived in a year.

It's just been one bad luck thing after another ... where is this karma?" Pilon said.

Now a group of friends who met Pilon and Noodles while they were living in the truck are trying to help get him back on his feet. They created a GoFundMe called Give Hope to John Pilon & in Loving Memory Noodles with a $10,000 goal.

For the first time in my life, I'm living at a shelter," John said, sitting in Beasley Park recently with two of the people trying to help him, Dan and Kathy Blair.

His skin is still raw and healing from second- and third-degree burns all over his body. He spent 10 days at the Hamilton General Hospital. He's been staying at the Good Shepherd men's shelter on Mary Street ever since.

Hamilton police investigated the fire, but the cause was undetermined." The truck was too heavily damaged.

In October 2019, Chrysler announced it was recalling some 2014 to 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks over a risk the exhaust gas recirculation cooler may crack and allow heated, vaporized coolant to enter. This mixture may cause combustion.

Pilon has turned to a personal injury law firm to help him with a claim. The firm has also helped him access therapy.

His misfortune began in January 2020 when he was looking for a new place to rent. He's a contractor and was living in an East Avenue North house he had renovated. He put an ad on Kijiji offering six months rent upfront.

A man replied and offered to rent him an East 42nd Street house. He was told the longtime family friends living there were moving out.

Pilon signed a rental agreement, handed over $3,000 in cash and a $9,000 cheque. He expected to have the new place for Feb. 1. But shortly before then, the man asked for a one-month delay, offering Pilon two months free rent. Pilon agreed. Then just days before March 1, he was told the old tenants hadn't left yet. Pilon's $12,000 had already been spent.

He called police, but Pilon said it didn't go anywhere.

Hamilton police confirmed they responded but said there were not grounds to lay fraud charges because there was no proof of criminal intent - proof that the landlord set out from the beginning to defraud Pilon. Police advised Pilon to pursue the matter civilly, said spokesperson Const. Indy Bharaj.

In emails shared with The Spectator, the landlord said: I will make this right it was never my intent for this to happen." He offered to pay monthly instalments. In the more than a year since, Pilon said the man has made a couple $500 payments and last week a $100 payment.

Pilon believes this was a deliberate scam.

He said he pleaded" with police to investigate further, but they did not.

Pilon said he's been through small claims court before in relation to work, and it's not worth the effort and paperwork.

We already know he owes me money, I don't need a judge to tell me that," he said.

Losing his money was upsetting, but not insurmountable. He had some savings at the time. But three weeks later, his beloved dog Princess - a Doberman he had for 10 years - died of a stroke in front of him and Noodles.

Princess was my soulmate," he said. When she died my heart died, I didn't even want to live."

He didn't care what happened to him.

I snapped," Pilon said. So he packed up his black 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup and went up north and then to Niagara Falls for months where he blew his remaining money.

That's when he started living in his truck. At first he was in Hamilton, but for safety reasons, decided to move on to Morriston. This January he and Noodles were parked near Kathy and Dan Blair's home and the couple, who often go on long walks, took notice. Eventually they became friends.

Pilon moved his truck to nearby Fletcher Creek, a Hamilton Conservation Authority property in Puslinch. It was here that Pilon and Noodles survived the winter. Sometimes it was so cold he had to turn the heat on every 15 minutes. A shelter was not an option for him because he would not leave Noodles.

As a puppy Noodles would sleep on his chest, and in the cold that winter she would sometimes just stare at Pilon with love in her eyes" and they would cuddle. Noodles was the friendliest dog who loved people.

Dan and Kathy Blair would often walk down to see them, Noodles excitedly barking each time they approached. Over the winter, Pilon made more friends through Noodles.

In particular, Pilon became friends with Elizabeth Moe and Sarah Gladding. Moe would walk Gladding's two Dobermans in the conservation area frequently, and Gladding would join them sometimes. The dogs all played together and soon Pilon had a community looking out for him.

But then the warm weather hit and the conservation area, which has an old quarry that's a popular swimming spot, became too busy.

The day of the fire Pilon was out checking out some Crown land when he said he heard clank, clank, clank." He said he couldn't go more than 40 kilometres an hour without the truck making weird noises, so he pulled over to let his car cool down for 15 minutes. His car exploded" when he tried to turn it back on, he said.

When Pilon was first in hospital, his friends didn't know where he was. It was Moe who found out. The friends visited him and started the GoFundMe. They are going to manage any funds donated to help him get out of the shelter.

More than anything, Pilon wishes he could have his dog back, he said. He wears Noodles' leash around his body every day.

There's a saying ... if dogs don't go to heaven I want to go where they go," he said.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com