An Edmonton family has experienced two significant losses in a matter of weeks: first, their southside home — and then, everything left inside it.
It began on Jan. 6, when Daniel Prasad was woken up by his mom’s screams.
“She had opened the basement door, cause she smelled something. She saw smoke piling up,” he said.
Prasad could smell the smoke in his room upstairs. He sprinted downstairs and opened the door to the basement, where another family rents the space.
“I was [hit] with black smoke and heat. I closed the door and thought ‘We have to leave.'”
Prasad gathered his family, including his 12-year-old brother and father, who is disabled, and helped them escape.
“I picked up my father and carried him down the stairs to get out. We had no time to grab anything. I didn’t even put on my shoes,” he explained.
The family rents the main floors of the house — another family lives in the basement.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said Thursday the cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.
The family was not permitted to re-enter the house after the property manager’s insurance company, TD Insurance, began to secure and fence off the area.
Neighbour Frederika Coe-Herbert kept watch over the house, while helping the family find a temporary place to stay.
But when the family returned to the property in the Ellerslie neighbourhood, after being given the go-ahead by the property manager, Prasad said they realized their rooms had been ransacked.
“It was all gone. Jewelery, SIN cards, laptops, clothing. Even my brother’s Nintendo Switch. Everything was gone.”
Global News spoke with the property manager Anna Gao on Friday, who said the matter is still with police — so the insurance company has not yet taken any action in regards to the theft.
Edmonton Police did not respond to Global News’ request for an update.
“I’m hoping the family can get an explanation as to why this happened in a premises that was supposed to be secured,” Coe-Herbert said.
A troubling situation that’s been made even more stressful, because the family cancelled their rental insurance just a week before the fire in an attempt to save money.
“My mom is having panic attacks. Just the stress of everything, you know?” Prasad said.
The family is mourning what they lost in the fire — but remain hopeful what they lost in the theft will be returned.
“We have filed a police report,” Prasad said.
“It’s a lot of things that were stolen. How are we going to recover that?”