A Sherwood Park homeowner was able to make it out safely as fire tore through his home late Thursday night.
Strathcona County firefighters were called to a home on Estate Drive at around 11:30 p.m. By the time crews arrived on scene, the house was engulfed in smoke and flames.
Evan Gagliardi said his dad was home alone when the fire broke out. Evan doesn’t think the family cat made it out alive.
“Absolutely terrible,” said Evan, who is currently in Vancouver coaching a youth volleyball team. He’s lived in the house since he was one.
“I’m lucky everyone’s OK. I’m lucky I had some stuff with me. I really feel bad for my dad, especially. The only thing he managed to escape with was the underwear he was sleeping in.”
Neighbour Brett Binkley knew something was wrong right away.
“I heard a bang, like a gunshot. I come running upstairs and the flames are so big, it almost looked like four houses were on fire. I started screaming,” he said.
He said the flames appeared to be shooting 20 feet up into the sky.
“The smoke and the embers were flying all over this field here actually. Thank God the wind was blowing that way, because if it was blowing this way, the whole neighbourhood would’ve been on fire,” he said, pointing towards the houses.
Dep. fire chief Vern Elliott said crews went into defensive mode and didn’t enter the home to fight the fire due to its intensity.
Elliott said strong winds made the battle difficult for firefighters.
“When you’ve got the high winds — I think we’re talking 30 to 40 kilometres an hour — that pushed the fire fairly significantly,” he said. “We were even defending houses across the street because of the embers falling.
“We had to ladder a couple of buildings and put some small spot fires out on the roofs.”
The fire was under control by about 1:30 a.m. Friday. About 20 firefighters were called in to put out the fire.
Evan’s brother, Thomas Gagliardi, came to the scene twice on Friday to look at the shell of a home that remains.
“I mean it’s my childhood house, it doesn’t feel good,” he said.
Thomas’ biggest concern was for his father.
“I’d just gotten back from Europe on Monday, so I had my souvenirs and all my clothes and everything. But again it’s stuff and stuff comes and goes. But when I heard my dad’s voice at whatever hour in the morning, it felt good.”
Evan said he knows most things can be replaced, but not their childhood pictures and keepsakes.
“It’s pretty sad, but we have no choice but to move on and be strong and be thankful for the people that offered to help.”
Though no official cause has been determined, Thomas believes the fire could have started with the family’s propane patio heater or their natural gas barbecue.
“My dad came downstairs and the smoke detector went off. When he came downstairs, the whole back deck was ablaze.”
Thomas chose to stay at his mom’s Thursday night, otherwise he would have been pulling up to the house right when the fire started.
“I never do that. I never stay. This time I stayed and I was spared the trauma of watching my childhood house burn,” he said.
Evan also considered what might have changed if he was home.
“I tend to stay up late, so part of me thinks I could have noticed it if I was downstairs,” he said. “I could’ve grabbed a fire extinguisher or something. But I also could have died. You can look at it either way. I mean, my dad barely escaped.”
The brothers credit a working smoke alarm with saving their dad’s life.
“You think, you know, you change the batteries every couple months and it’s annoying,” Thomas said. “If it wouldn’t have gone off, who knows how late it would’ve been and I’m thankful for that.”
“It’s all replaceable, but people aren’t.”
Damages are pegged at more than $1 million.
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