At 6:55 a.m. on Saturday, Bryan Morrow left his house. His wife, Chelsey, and two children were already up, and another day on the farm beckoned. All appeared normal.
About five minutes later, flames began ripping through the new, stick-built property about two miles east of Barrhead. They spread with devastating speed.
Chelsey managed to escape unscathed with two-year-old Logan and three-month-old Dayne, but was powerless to combat the fire.
Even though 18 firefighters were quickly at the acreage – which is near the Northplex plant – there was nothing they could do to save the fully furnished home. It went up like a matchbox.
What they could do was prevent fire from sweeping through woodland and a field behind the property.
One firefighter was taken to hospital for a minor problem, but was quickly discharged.
As the smoke and flames died, all that remained of the proud house was a blackened, burnt-out shell.
It was a wretched sight for a family which only moved into the property in October after living in a mobile on the acreage. They recently sold the mobile, now without sewer or gas.
On Saturday afternoon, Barrhead Mayor Brian Schulz visited the scene, which had been taped off. An RCMP vehicle was parked nearby. The reeve Bill Lee was also notified, along with Family and Community Support Services.
Later fire investigators including Barrhead Fire Chief John Whittaker began sifting through the wreckage, looking for clues.
Whittaker said the fire service had been alerted to the blaze at about 7 a.m.
“The house was completely engulfed in flames when Barrhead firemen arrived,” he said.
“We were on the scene relatively quickly but the fire spread rapidly throughout the home. It also spread through the back trees and into the field.”
Fortunately wildland units were all lined up to combat the fire behind the house.
Whittaker said the fire service would be working closely with a third party investigator to determine cause.
“The owner left the house at about five minutes to 7 a.m. and there was no signs of anything wrong at the time,” he said. “His wife and children were up and they noticed a fire. Nobody was hurt, thank goodness.”
“It breaks your heart because they had only just built their dream home,” he added.
Whittaker said the fire service was extremely grateful to A&W, which provided a free breakfast at about 10 a.m.
“When you are working hard for a couple of hours with no breakfast in your stomach, it can be challenging,” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, Bryan and Chelsey were at the fire scene, trying to take in what happened.
Chelsey said she was in the living room when she was alerted by the smell of smoke.
“The fire went up really fast,” she said. “By the time we got out we could see it going up to the roof of the garage.”
Despite the devastation, the couple are extremely thankful that nobody was hurt.
“It could have been a lot worse,” said Chelsey. “We are all good, that’s what matters.”
Bryan said he had helped a contractor build the house.
The family is now staying with relatives in town and may have to move into rented accommodation.
