As Les Walker helped others find their dream house, the charred remains of his fire-gutted home were ripped apart.
The realtor woke up around 1:15 a.m. yesterday to his 24-year-old son screaming that there was a fire in the house under construction next door, which quickly spread to his Cranston home and caused $2 million in damages, according to initial estimates. Walker didn’t want to see the fire department demolish what remained of his house, so instead he went to work.
“There’s no point in going back — there’s nothing left,” he said.
“I’m just thankful my son saw the fire. It just spread so quickly from next door. Thanks to him we grabbed the pups and headed out.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
About 30 firefighters worked to put out the blaze, positioning themselves between the two fully engulfed homes and the uninvolved houses to stop the fire from spreading.
Thousands of gallons of water were poured onto the houses from elevated water streams in an attempt to douse the fire.
“This just shows how quickly houses can go up in flames,” said Jeff Budai with the Calgary Fire Department.
Walker, along with his wife, son and dogs, will be forced to find other accommodations while the insurance company works things out.
“I’ve never even made a car insurance claim, let alone a house insurance claim,” Walker said.
