From the Edmonton Journal ...
Luxury home, retirement dreams up in smoke
By Marty Klinkenberg, Edmonton Journal April 7, 2014 6:33 AM
Picture from Global Edmonton
EDMONTON - A week after putting his house up for sale, Doug Rutherford watched it go up in smoke on Sunday.
Recently retired as general manager at CHED, Rutherford planned to split time between condos in Kelowna and Edmonton with his wife, Michelle Boden.
“But selling this house is part of the plan,” Rutherford said Sunday. “Our plans may have to change.”
Returning from a walk with their cocker spaniel shortly before 5:20 p.m., Rutherford and Boden noticed smoke coming from the base of a pillar outside the front door of their three-bedroom bungalow in West Edmonton.
“We attempted to put some water down ourselves, but in a matter of a minute, fire inside the pillar shot right up to the roof,” Rutherford said as firefighters coiled up hoses and packed their gear after battling the blaze on Drysdale Run in upper-scale Donsdale for 90 minutes. “I guess my house won’t be listed anymore.”
Acting district fire chief Marc Zubick said crews were dispatched to the residence after a call came in reporting an outside fire. Calls then began pouring in from neighbours saying the structure was on fire, and flames were shooting through the roof when three pumper trucks arrived on the scene.
Zubick said the fire was contained to the attic and roof, but significant water damage was incurred to the interior of the house.
According to an online real estate listing, the asking price for the three-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot residence was $768,000. The home had 12-foot ceilings with hand-crafted beams, hardwood floors, a gourmet country kitchen and finished basement with a family room, media room, exercise room and gas fireplace.
“It’s just a tragedy,” Ron Berlando, who lived beside Rutherford, said as he watched firefighters hose down the roof. Berlando also has his house on the market, for $849,000. “We all carry insurance, but it is still devastating emotionally.
“They were waiting for the house to sell and then they planned to move. It is so unfortunate.”
Zubick said the cause of the fire was unknown on Sunday night. Investigators were interviewing Rutherford and Boden and looking for clues.
Firefighters helped Rutherford haul moving boxes that had been stacked in the garage out to the street.
“With all of the water I saw them putting down, I am afraid what I am going to find when I go inside,” Rutherford said.
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