Way too close for comfort

[iliketrout]

I get a call at work at 4:30. My wife tells me a house is on fire on our street (heard it on the radio). I left work a little early to check on things.

I pull onto my street to find one house destroyed (2 houses down) and the houses on either side of the main one both heavily damaged. Mine was the 4th to be damaged, minor siding damage and possible roof and gutter damage plus whatever else we didn't see. It's the yellow one to the left (if looking from the street) of the destroyed houses.

Most importantly, both of us are completely OK, no injuries or anything as we were both at work when it happened.

Here are some pictures that I took and a link to the Calgary Herald article with more pics.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/alarm+fire+northeast+Calgary+guts+home+spreads+oth ers/4361730/story.html?tab=PHOT

We are lucky to have escaped with relatively minor damage. We still have each other and our roof over our head tonight.

The firefighters told me that they thought they were going to lose our house when they first arrived. We’re very thankful to them that they worked so hard to save our house. I owe a huge thanks to the men and women of the Calgary Fire Department, EMS, and Police Service for saving my house and allowing me to sleep in my own bed tonight, safe, with my wife. To guys like Ken07AOVette, Camshaft, and others who put themselves on the line every time they go to work, Thank You. My Godfather is a fire chief back home and I know the sacrifice and dedication it takes (and the unpleasant parts of the job as well). Your service to the community is greatly appreciated. (Sorry, don't know anyone else by name...)

No word on the cause of the fire yet.

Google Street View of the houses before the fire:
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/GoogleStreetViewBeforePicture.jpg

Aftermath:
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/Front04.jpg

My House is the yellow one on the left:
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/Front02.jpg

From the Back:
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae107/iliketrout/Back02.jpg

[chubbdarter]

good to hear buddy...great news your family is safe. Prayers everyone isnt harmed either.
if you need anything call....if you need siding help i gots a kitchen hammer i can borrow from the wife.

[jts1]

A siding party man. Sounds like a hangover to me Im in Adam..

[deanmc]

It happens all the time and yet people line up to buy houses that almost touch each other.. I dont get it at all.
If my neighbor is naked i want to need my binoculars to know. lol

Glad you and your family are all okay.

[FishingMOM]

Glad to hear you and your family are safe.

[roadkill]

Wow pretty harrowing. How well do you know your neighbours? Nobody was hurt, I hope?

And I agree: I'm glad you and yours were spared. Losing everything would be awful; losing everything in the middle of winter would be even worse.

[Geezle]

It happens all the time and yet people line up to buy houses that almost touch each other.. I dont get it at all.
If my neighbor is naked i want to need my binoculars to know. lol

Glad you and your family are all okay.

X2 first off I'm glad to hear that everybody is okay.

Secondly I'm with you on the houses being too close together dean. I've worked in areas where the houses are so close that I can stretch out my arms and be touching both houses at the same time...don't tell me that's not a bad idea.

The developers are too greedy, and if they can make the lots just a bit narrower and cram one more on to each block so they make another $300k they'll do it without batting an eye.


I'm still waiting to see what's going to happen when one of the Jayman houses they were building a few years ago in Edmonton with their STYROFOAM wall system catches fire...:scared: :scared0018:

[WayneChristie]

Glad you guys and your possessions are ok Adam.

[Alberta Bigbore]

Wow what a Nightmare. Glad you guys are ok.

[crazyfish]

Way too close !!! Good to hear all is well, but a few minor issues ! Big thanks to the fire dept. again !

[FishBrain]

Glad to hear you guys are ok Adam. Way to close for sure!!

[iliketrout]

Thanks guys.

The house where it originated had only one person in it, she was injured when she jumped out.

The guys next to me are in India and are on their way home.

The third house with the heavy siding damage, I believe they were not home as well and there may be smoke damage so they are not living there at the time being.

[Shaggy]

I do roofing if you need it.

Glad everyone is OK.

[Ken07AOVette]

Omg we love that foam. Kudos to the fire teams, and very glad everyone is ok.

And, thank you.

Side note- people wonder why houses so close together are a bad idea....:thinking-006:

Is there anything I can send to the families? Clothes, toys, pots and pans, blankets etc?

[iliketrout]

Ken, when I talk to the inspector I'll ask him. To be honest I am not very familiar with the neighbors as there is a language barrier. I do know both families with the destroyed houses have family and friends in town so at least they have places to stay and some support.

Unfortunately if you live in the city and want a newer home, there's not much a guy can do about the spacing between the houses. My house is 10 years old. My friend has a 2 year old house in Auburn Bay that I swear is no more than 4 feet away from his neighbours...

Stucco siding would help but the roof will still ignite.

Can't afford an acreage (yet).

In a situation like this it all comes down to luck. Bad luck that the fire was so close, good luck that we didn't lose everything.

[chubbdarter]

Ken, when I talk to the inspector I'll ask him. To be honest I am not very familiar with the neighbors as there is a language barrier. I do know both families with the destroyed houses have family and friends in town so at least they have places to stay and some support.

Unfortunately if you live in the city and want a newer home, there's not much a guy can do about the spacing between the houses. My house is 10 years old. My friend has a 2 year old house in Auburn Bay that I swear is no more than 4 feet away from his neighbours...

Stucco siding would help but the roof will still ignite.

Can't afford an acreage (yet).

In a situation like this it all comes down to luck. Bad luck that the fire was so close, good luck that we didn't lose everything.

yup them the sad facts.
i picked my home for 2 reasons....had to stay in city till last kid left for post secondary
and i needed to be near the highway that took me to the place i love

[NoKlu]

I dug a lot of basements in Calgary and they put them 4' from the property line.

[just_dave]

Scary. Any smoke damage to the inside of your home?

[iliketrout]

No smoke or water damage. Insurance adjuster just left though. We're getting 100% new siding and likely a new roof.

Shaggy thanks for the offer, but I am going with the insurance company's preferred contractor. That way I don't have to deal with any of the money.

jts - looks like the siding party will have to turn into just a party! I'll make sure you get nice and hungover!

[chubbdarter]

No smoke or water damage. Insurance adjuster just left though. We're getting 100% new siding and likely a new roof.

Shaggy thanks for the offer, but I am going with the insurance company's preferred contractor. That way I don't have to deal with any of the money.

jts - looks like the siding party will have to turn into just a party! I'll make sure you get nice and hungover!

get yellow siding with vertical bars....make it look like a walleye

[iliketrout]

get yellow siding with vertical bars....make it look like a walleye

No way then you'd be over all the time trying to get my house to bite.

[TreeGuy]

Man oh man, that is too darn close for comfort. Real glad it turned out in your favour ILT, a huge kudos to the fire crews for keeping it contained under tough conditions.

From the pics, you can easily tell the direction the wind was taking that blaze and you were next.

A pal of mine was one the Citadel fire last December that took 6 homes. When they first rolled on scene they thought that containing it to a loss of 20 would be a minor miracle.

Hopefully everything works out for the other families who were not so fortunate. :(

[chubbdarter]

No way then you'd be over all the time trying to get my house to bite.

your such a PUDDLE

[Ken07AOVette]

your such a PUDDLE

LOL oh hell that is funny. I think we have new slang in the making here, the ultimate insult!

I may have just never heard that one, but I like it!

:sHa_shakeshout:

[chubbdarter]

LOL oh hell that is funny. I think we have new slang in the making here, the ultimate insult!

I may have just never heard that one, but I like it!

:sHa_shakeshout:

he just texted me a insult.....but even his phone has more manners than he does and it typed puddle instead of ******

so its his new nickname....lol

[iliketrout]

Haha yeah it stems from a recent text message that my phone decided to autocorrect. I'll give you a hint on the original word...look at what the "d" is next to on the keyboard and fill in the rest.

Although it is kind of ironic with all the puddles left from the water...

This is bad, I think this one is going to stick.

[chubbdarter]

Haha yeah it stems from a recent text message that my phone decided to autocorrect. I'll give you a hint on the original word...look at what the "d" is next to on the keyboard and fill in the rest.

Although it is kind of ironic with all the puddles left from the water...

This is bad, I think this one is going to stick.


your lucky im not a trouble maker......i'd c and p the whole text.....lol

[The Fisherman Guy]

Very glad you came out with the outcome that you did. It's a shame for the other famlies, especailly to return from a vacation abroad to a disaster.

So, when do you start looking for that acreage?

[Photoplex]

Glad all escaped unscathed. This reminds me... I need to get my renters insurance sorted out :scared:

[fishstix]

X2 first off I'm glad to hear that everybody is okay.

Secondly I'm with you on the houses being too close together dean. I've worked in areas where the houses are so close that I can stretch out my arms and be touching both houses at the same time...don't tell me that's not a bad idea.

The developers are too greedy, and if they can make the lots just a bit narrower and cram one more on to each block so they make another $300k they'll do it without batting an eye.


I'm still waiting to see what's going to happen when one of the Jayman houses they were building a few years ago in Edmonton with their STYROFOAM wall system catches fire...:scared: :scared0018:

That styrofoam has a built in fire retardant. It dosent burn. Those houses are also much warmer and much more quiet.

[berjerkin]

That styrofoam has a built in fire retardant. It dosent burn. Those houses are also much warmer and much more quiet.

this is correct. we had a house burn down here a few weeks ago, and all that was left was the styrofoam blocks for the garage walls.

there are a few problems that make house fires so much worse. steel roofs is an issue, due to it contains the heat and does not let the flames out the top of the building.

having houses too close to eachother is a whole other story. there should be a minimum 20 feet between houses to be able to protect the surrounding structures. 50 feet would be better....

[220swifty]

If you are talking ICF, I can't comment on the fire rating, but the 2" extruded foam sheets that some builders were using as exterior sheathing about 3-4 years ago melts pretty easy. Now they are putting it on top of 3/8 OSB, but it still melts.

The new houses in Calgary have 1/2" fibreglass impregnated drywall on exterior walls that are too close to the neighbors, but I still cant see how it will stop a fire, as it seems to go roof to roof.

Good to see all is well, a similar fire happened a few weeks back by our jobsite in Coventry Hills. Scary stuff

[gl2]

glad to hear you and your family are safe adam, if you need anything just let me know.

[32-40win]

I seem to remember hearing something on the mews last summer about the Provincial Fire Marshal getting the required distance between houses changed so that new subdivisions had to have them further apart. Not sure which subdivisions are affected, likely nothing that is currently being built.
Seems strange the insurance companies were not loudly pushing for that earlier. although I suppose it helps raise the rates they can charge.

[howlin]

wow bad damage ,you hear of it all over and not really pay attention but when it strikes close to home it makes you think .your lucky your not in another area of the (any)city that they build them even closer ,scary thought ,could have been much worse.(thats how rome burned)nice to hear everyones safe(although i think i see a suv all burned up it the garage, i hope its not a jimmy)