The Kunka family's holiday season has seen incredible heartbreak after the passing of Alyssa Kunka in a house fire. (Image Credit: Scott Kunka)

By Tommy Osborne

Tragic passing

Willow River family grieves tragic loss of mother in housefire

Dec 31, 2025 | 3:43 PM

WILLOW RIVER – The holiday season, normally full of joy and laughter, became a sudden and unexpected season of despair for the Kunka family. Alyssa Kunka, beloved wife and mother of four-year-old son Alex, passed away during a housefire on December 21.

“She was the best, she was an amazing mother, excellent wife. She looked after us, looked after everything. Always looking for more to do, she was always on the go, caring for everybody around her, her whole family out here, including us. She was always trying to help everyone out,” Scott Kunka, Alyssa’s husband, said.

“She just wandered into the yard one day, my friend’s advice to come visit. We’ve just stayed together ever since, we both grew up out here and we both loved it out here. We were so happy,” he continued.

Alyssa with her and Scott’s son, Alex. (Image Credit: Scott Kunka)

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The pain of losing Alyssa is one that can’t be easily expressed, but also lost in the fire was all of the Kunkas’ possessions, pets, and savings. In the face of this despair, Scott says he is just trying to take it day by day and hold on to hope for the future.

“Been doing our best to make plans, and I’m keeping hope,” Scott said.

This is all that remains of the Kunka household following a devastating housefire on December 21.

Scott says Alex has been doing ok despite the challenges, adding Alex has been a huge source of hope.

“It’s definitely helped keep me going, seeing him have his spirits up, and we’ve had lots of family and lots of visitors and he’s been doing okay,” Scott said.

As Scott tries to rebuild his life from scratch, the community has rallied around him to help out where they can. He says the support received has been a tremendous help.

“It’s been overwhelming. The very next day, people are dropping off clothes and food for us and helping us out. It’s just been unbelievable that everybody has come together to help us out,” Scott said.

Beyond the immediate Willow River community, a GoFundMe has also raised more than $11,000 as of December 31, all to support the Kunkas during this time of incredible sadness.

“It’s a great community, we’ve had offers from people to try to help rebuild and build something. So I’m just trying to see what we can do, save up what we can, and gather what we can to try to rebuild and make a home for us again,” he said.

Scott believes the house fire was started from an electrical socket. If you would like to support the family’s rebuilding efforts, you can do so on the GoFundMe page.