'It was just an inferno': Elderly Cape Breton couple loses everything in house fire
Russell and Marie Mauger lived in their home on Tower Road for 40 years, but on Monday, they lost it in a matter of minutes.
Russell Mauger, 84, says the fire started when his wife plugged in a computer -- and sparks flew. They thought they had blown a fuse.
The couple scooped up their dog and got out just in time.
"When I opened the basement door, it was just an inferno,” Russell Mauger said. "The flames were coming over my head -- it was that quick -- and the whole stairs came down. If we had been upstairs, we would never in the world [have gotten] down."
Fire crews say the home was fully engulfed when they were called just after 9 a.m.
"Very lucky to have the occupants that were in it out of there, that they made it out on their own,” said Terry Jewells of the Tower Road Volunteer Fire Department. "They were in shock, and they're still in shock, which is understandable. Both of the occupants are in their 80s, and it's pretty hard to take, especially at this time of year with Christmas."
Just a few hours after the fire broke out, what was left of the home was demolished.
Nearly all of the couple’s belongings were lost. They escaped with little else but the clothes on their backs.
One of the few things they did get out was a charred wallet with some cash still inside.
“I had savings. I was saving it and putting it in the freezer,” said Marie Mauger.
The couple said they plan to stay with neighbours for now. Everyone on the ground agreed that the main thing was that they got out alive.
"If it had have been earlier in the morning, it could have been a different scenario,” Jewells said. “But we'll take the scenario we got and be blessed with it."
There's no word yet on a fundraiser, or whether one will be started to help support the newly displaced couple.
Fire crews say the official cause of the fire is still unknown.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.