CALGARY- Tributes are pouring in for a well-known Calgary doctor, who died after fire broke out in his home on Boxing Day.
Friends and patients have identified the victim of the blaze as Dr. Otto Spika, who was retired. He was pulled out of his Mount Royal home unconscious, but died in hospital a few hours later.
“He was the person I talked to when my dad was diagnosed with brain tumours and cancer, so he helped our family through that time,” remembers family friend Karen Hirl. “He was really a mench—a German word—for someone who is very kind and helps you.
“”He brought me into this world, like my friend who called me last night to let me know he had been in this tragic fire.”
Calgary politician Jon Lord, who was one of Spika’s patients, says he was a very smart man.
“I’ve had dinner over it his place and we just talked about all kinds of things,” Lord says. “He’s a very intelligent man, very astute and he just had a knowledge of everything.”
Spika had lived alone since his wife died after a bad fall in the house—exactly five years earlier.
Fire investigators were back at the scene on Friday, trying to determine what caused the fire.
Comments