Residents in a Calgary community are still in shock that their homes were left standing after another mobile home fire Tuesday night.
Chris Breidfjord lived three doors down from the home when he said he heard sirens.
“I came outside there was a lot of smoke coming from underneath the trailer.”
The city’s latest mobile home fire happened in Chateau Estates on 84 Street in the northeast.
READ MORE: Fire guts mobile home at Calgary’s Chateau Estates
Neighbours told Global News the home owner was trying to keep his place warm.
“He had frozen pipes and he was underneath the trailer and trying to thaw them with the blow torch,” said Breidfjord. “Actually I did have my pipes freeze over this last week. I had to replace a whole bunch of section of pipe.”
Last week, an attempt to stay warm cost another man his mobile home and almost his life.
Tracy Peters said her neighbour, Gordon McIntosh, was trying to light his furnace.
“My heart sank it shouldn’t happen to these houses. They are not prone to burning,” said Peters.
McIntosh and his dog were pulled to safety, but everything else was lost in the fire.
READ MORE: Man taken to hospital after fire in Calgary mobile home park
The community is now rallying around the man who brought them so much cheer.
“He’s just known as Gord or Gordie. People ask me, ‘who’s that guy who looks like Santa Claus.’ He’s got that curly white hair and that white beard,” explained Peters.
Now McIntosh is the one in need of a Christmas miracle.
Peters has helped start a GoFundMe page for McIntosh, who’s a senior and a veteran.
“It’s a big waiting game. We are trying to raise funds. It’s going to cost him anywhere from 10 to 12-thousand dollars just to demolish that home,” said Peters.
“It can happen to anybody. To be outside with your long johns and your dog and that’s all you have left in life. It’s just heart wrenching.”
ATCOenergy recommends calling a licensed professional to help with gas appliances.
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