A roofing procedure gone wrong has left a couple and their four dogs without a home, and tenant Paul Sowerby wants someone to take responsibility.
"We have no place to go," said an emotional Sowerby on Saturday (Sept. 11) afternoon after discovering the damage to his house. "I've got all my luggage in the back of my truck."
The fire at the Government Road home, rented by Sowerby and his wife for the past two and a half years, started while workers contracted by Carson Roofing were placing a torch-on membrane to seal the roof.
Around 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Sowerby came home to find firefighters and workers trying to extinguish his roof.
"They were still putting the fire out when I got here," he said. "They were ripping a hole in the roof and ripping down part of the outside, trying to find out where it was."
Sowerby, who doesn't have tenant's insurance, was outraged and accused the roofers of not following proper procedures by ensuring fire extinguishers were nearby.
"Each roofer is supposed to have an extinguisher within 15 feet of them," he said. "They only had one fire extinguisher for all four of them and it was on the ground - they were using my garden hose to try and put the fire out."
He said the Fire Rescue duty officer on site, Sean Sweeney, verified the roofers only had one fire extinguisher. Deputy fire chief Mike Adams said Sweeney told him he was too busy putting out the fire to take note of the roofer's firefighting devices, but recalled they did have some.
Carson Roofing owner Michelle Carson refused to comment because her insurance company, Maxwell Claims, is still investigating the cause. She did, however, deny there was only one fire extinguisher on site.
Marian Maxwell at Maxwell Claims Services Inc. said "we're dealing with a liability claim and we're not at liberty to discuss the investigation."
Adams said 15 firefighters were on scene for three hours and most of the home was damaged by smoke or water.
"We were fortunate our crews arrived when they did," said Adams, since the fire had already ignited the ceiling insulation.
Sowerby said he was even more perturbed by the roofer's lack of remorse.
"The guys didn't even apologize," he said, "they were just telling me to calm down and not get upset."
On Wednesday, Carson Roofing employees were on site fixing the roof and replacing the ceiling.
The tenants were told on Monday (Sept. 13) they had to move all their possessions out of the house so Carson Roofing could start working on it.
"My wife had a meltdown, I had a meltdown. We have to pay out of our own pockets - for storage, for moving the furniture, everything," said Sowerby.
Squamish Emergency Services paid for their first three nights in a hotel but now he and his wife are staying with his stepdaughter in her two-bedroom home with her husband and kids.
"I'm still working out where we can keep the dogs," he said. "Putting them all in a kennel would be more expensive than staying in a hotel."
Two rooms full of furniture, clothing, books and paintings were soaked by the firefighter's hoses, and Sowerby's unsure if he will be compensated.
Although the couple is not covered by tenant's insurance, the lease may stipulate the landlord's insurance would cover damage not attributed to the tenant. Unfortunately, the lease papers were also soaked, so Sowerby is waiting on his landlord to provide a copy.
His landlord has already refunded half Sowerby's rent for September, but Sowerby said this isn't enough - he needs money in the interim to pay displacement costs.
"We'll see what happens, right now we're just taking thing as they come, day by day."
