‘It’s just a disaster’: P.A. family believes weekend fire was deliberately set

Gary Sterkenburg is thankful neither he nor his daughter were hurt when a fire destroyed their West Flat home early Saturday morning.

Shortly before 5 a.m. Sterkenburg, who was sleeping in a downstairs bedroom, said he was startled awake by the sound of a horn honking in the distance.

“At first I thought someone’s car alarm was going off on the street and I’m thinking ‘Geez I wish I they would shut that stupid thing off,'” he said.

The noise got louder and Sterkenburg said he felt something wasn’t right. When he realized the horn he was hearing was actually his own truck alarm, he rushed to the back door, thinking he was about to stop an attempted break-in.

“I opened up the back door and I got hit with a wall of smoke and flame. It just kind of threw me back a few feet,” he said.

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Sterkenburg then looked out his window and saw his truck completely engulfed in flames.

“It was just one big fireball” he said, adding the flames were crawling along the roof of the carport toward the house.

Sterkenburg ran upstairs and grabbed his nine year old daughter. Together they raced out the front door with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and called 9-1-1.

“My daughter’s crying ‘Daddy the kitties, the kitties,’ and so I went back to the front door. I opened up the front door but the smoke hit me and I was like ‘No that’s as far as I can go,'” he said.

Wearing only his underwear, Sterkenburg was forced to stand on the front lawn and watch his home burn. Several neighbours came to the rescue and brought him a jacket, a pair of shoes, and a pair of pants.

The cause of the fire remains under active investigation however Sterkenburg told paNOW his neighbour’s security camera captured footage of three people hovering near the garage prior to the fire. After talking with the fire chief, Sterkenburg said he learned either the truck or nearby garbage can were lit on fire.

“It’s very suspicious,” he said.

On Monday Sterkenburg had a chance to go back inside the home and was able to recover both his passport and birth certificate which were being kept in a metal drawer. Sadly, Sterkenburg also located the remains of one of his cats.

“I was just astounded at the damage and devastation, like everything is just gone,” he said. “It’s just a disaster.”

A view inside the family’s former home. (submitted photo/Lisa Stead)

While Sterkenburg’s home was fully insured, a GoFundMe fundraiser was created to help the family get back on its feet while the insurance process takes its course.

Lisa Stead, the administrator at Plaza 88, where Sterkenburg works, created the online fundraiser and told paNOW all the staff there are like family.

“Gary is a hardworking, single Dad who recently bought a new house and we were all so excited for him. He poured his heart and soul into that house and fixed it up, doing countless renos. To see him lose it all, when we know how much he put into his – well it’s heartbreaking,” she said.

According to a statement on the GoFundMe page, the family can use gift cards or the money for food, for clothes and household items. The fundraiser is requesting gift cards or financial donations toward tools as Sterkenburg is a tradesman and lost all of his tools.

Gift cards can be brought in person to Embassy Church in Prince Albert or mailed to 888 Central Avenue Prince Albert, Saskatchewan S6V 4V1 in care of ‘Gary’.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell