A family’s dream home went up in flames after a suspected arsonist set their nearly completed Tiny Township cottage ablaze on Boxing Day.
In an interview with Barrie Today, Toronto couple Paul Stanczak and Danielle Bablich described their $400,000 cottage on Georgian Bay as their “labour of love” and said they had put “our savings and our future into an investment in our home.”
The couple said they already spent about 18 months building the home since they bought the 1,850-square-foot property, which was intended to be a summer home for them and their son.
Stanczak said it was early morning when they received a call from a neighbour about the blaze that destroyed their home.
“I just stood there on our neighbour’s front lawn and watched my dream, my life’s work for the last 18 months, [fully engulfed],” he told Barrie Today.
Unfortunately, the couple admitted that they did not take out insurance on the property because they were financing the house on their own. Had they taken out a loan from a bank, they would have been required to get insurance as part of the financing agreement.
“Hindsight being 20/20, we would have immediately gotten insurance, but you never think this is going to happen to you,” Bablich told the news outlet.
The couple also said they have not gotten liability insurance on the property, with Stanczak saying that the tradesmen working on the home would have their own insurance and “people don’t go on the property because there’s a gate and a no trespassing sign, and they’re not supposed to be there.”
When asked about the incident, Southern Georgian Bay Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable David Hobson told Barrie Today that an investigation was ongoing but did not give further details.
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Stanczak said it was “fairly obvious” that the fire was intentional and without an arrest, he and his family continue to feel threatened.
“We don’t have closure, but we're trying to obviously find a higher ground and sort of have this make us stronger, and not let it destroy us,” he said.
Bablich added they have “leaned on our community and our friends and each other” for support.
The couple said that they were hoping that anyone who might know something about the incident or witnessed anything out of the ordinary between Christmas and Boxing Day to contact the police.
