Two families leaning on each other after fatal houseboat fire last month

ST. PAUL PARK, Minn. — Two families are now leaning on each other after a father died last month in a tragic houseboat fire.
Torian Topel, her two kids and her pets escaped the devastating fire that destroyed her and Nick Walsh’s side-by-side houseboats in St. Paul Park.  
“I open the curtains and I look, and his boat’s fully engulfed,” said Torian Topel.
Topel, Walsh’s girlfriend, says she saw him near the flames, and he told her to go back and get his dog, which she did. But when Topel got to safety minutes later, she found out Walsh never made it off his boat.
“It had to have been his spirit [I saw],” she said. “I don’t know. Nobody could’ve been logically standing where I saw Nick squatting. There’s no logical way somebody could’ve stood there with how intense the flames were.”
Walsh leaves behind three kids with his ex-wife, Katelyn. She and Topel have leaned on each other through this tragedy, and take comfort in remembering Walsh together.
“We had ups and downs after the divorce, but I knew no matter what I could call him if I needed something, if I was in trouble, and he’d be there in a heartbeat,” Katelyn Walsh said.
Both women describe Walsh as a dedicated father who loved fiercely and loved having a good time.
“Brought me outside of my comfort zone, loving to sing and to dance and play his banjo,” Topel said.
The cause of the fire is being investigated, but more pressing for Topel is what comes next. She says an insurance issue has left her saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in bills.
“If anybody knows anybody who can help dispose of a couple of houseboats so [Topel] can get on her feet, that would be a godsend,” Katelyn Walsh said. “She lost everything. Nobody prepares for something like this.”
Topel says she and her kids lost everything in a house fire five years ago. When they were getting off the boat, her son said, “Not again.”
Note: The video above originally aired on Oct. 25, 2024