Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Liard (Oct 13/00) - Garry Mazur left the community earlier this week because he couldn't bear to look at his home -- or what's left of it -- any longer.

Mazur's home, which he spent the last 12 years building, was damaged by fire Sept. 15.

He is currently working, at least temporarily, in Cambridge Bay.

He's also grappling with what he contends was inappropriate action by the local volunteer fire department.

The firefighters used a loader, a piece of heavy equipment, to level the front of the house.

"I wished they wouldn't have pushed it over. I don't know why. They took the sub-structure down and everything, and screwed up all my logs and the integrity of the whole thing by using a loader on it," said Mazur, a carpenter. "I could have rebuilt it no problem ... but they totalled the thing by adding that damage to it ... I've got to take off. I can't handle looking at it any more."

John McKee, senior administrative officer for the hamlet, said seven firefighters spent close to 10 hours at the scene battling the fire before deciding to use the loader. It was a necessary measure because the cathedral ceiling could not be accessed by any other method, he said.

"It's one of the difficulties with a cathedral ceiling. We couldn't get up on the roof because it was structurally unsafe at that time," McKee said. "By that point the house was beyond repair. I don't believe we did any more damage ... unfortunately, in a small community, we don't have these big ladder trucks."

Mazur left the scene that night because he was overwrought from the events unfolding before him.

Caused by spark?

Fire chief Al Harris, who was out of town at the time of the incident but who conducted the subsequent investigation, said it appears that a spark in the ceiling space was likely cause of the blaze. A wood stove in the home was probable source of the spark, he added.

"It's indeterminate at this point. It definitely doesn't appear to be suspicious," he said, adding the house was not complete in its construction and had never been inspected.

Mazur said he fell asleep on the couch watching the Olympics that Friday night.

"I woke up, I heard a thump, but I went back to bed. I didn't think nothing of it," he said, adding his cat often makes noise on balcony.

He recalled waking up again, this time to the sound of crackling. Thinking it was raining, he said he ran outside to get some blueprints he left outside at the school across the street.

"When I got outside my house was burning," he said. "I just started throwing water on it out of my rain barrel. I panicked actually is what I did."

Fortunately, there was no one inside the house, Mazur's common-law partner was in Nahanni Butte at the time.

He has been able to salvage a few possessions. Unfortunately, Mazur didn't have insurance so the result is practically a total loss.

"People should look at insuring things. I kick my ass for that, I'll tell you that," he said.