Suspected arson case a searing reminder of risks of uninsured homes
Global News
For Paul Stanczak and Danielle Bablich, the Christmas season came to an abrupt end on Boxing Day.
For Paul Stanczak and Danielle Bablich, the Christmas season came to an abrupt end on Boxing Day.
In a bleary state of shock, the couple learned their partially completed cottage on Ontario’s Georgian Bay was ablaze after receiving a call from a neighbour at about 5:20 a.m. on Dec. 26.
Stanczak drove the three minutes from Bablich’s parents’ home to find the small chalet into which they’d already poured more than $425,000 destroyed in minutes due to a suspected act of arson.
“I just stood there on another neighbour’s lot across the street … and watched our dream in flames. And there’s nothing you can do about it,” Stanczak, 44, said in a phone interview.
“It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever been through,” said Bablich, 37, who joined her partner at the cottage turned crime scene after calming their six-year-old son.
“I watched it just finish burning and collapse into itself.”
The Toronto couple had worked on the Scandinavian-style chalet for over a year, overseeing the project as trees were cleared, the foundation was laid and the structure went up, complete with drywall and electrical and water hook-ups by Christmas.
But they chose not to insure it, in part because they relied solely on their savings so there was no bank loan involved to require insurance.