‘They obviously got the wrong house’: Prince Albert man shaken after suspicious fire

Granderath said security camera footage appears to show a dark-coloured car backing into his driveway shortly before the fire started.

“This black car, looks like it’s an Elantra, passes my house, backed into my driveway, minute and a half, two minutes later, storms out of the driveway real fast, and there’s a fire all of a sudden,” he said. “So it was set by somebody.”

He said investigators told him an accelerant may have been used, though testing is still ongoing.

The fire destroyed a van being used for storage, along with clothing, furniture, collectibles and family keepsakes. Granderath estimates the losses at roughly $10,000.

“My daughter’s and mine, pretty much all our summer clothing, all our spring clothing,” he said. “My comic collection worth a few thousand dollars that I was going to use eventually to buy another house … all sorts of keepsakes from my kids.”

While the flames were contained before spreading further into the home, Granderath said the incident could have ended much worse.

“Putting my daughter’s life at risk … and my neighbours included,” he said. “There’s children next door.”

Granderath said he cannot think of any reason someone would intentionally target him and believes the wrong home may have been chosen.

“There’d be no reason to target my house,” he said. “They obviously got the wrong house if it was a targeted firebombing or whatever it was.”

He added there has been alleged drug activity in the neighbourhood and suspects his property may have been mistaken for another residence.

Granderath said he has provided surveillance footage to investigators and believes neighbouring homes may also have captured video.

In the meantime, he hopes others can learn from what happened.

“Make sure you’ve got cameras and they’re recording 24-7,” he said. “Something like this happens at your house, you want to know quick.”

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by paNOW Staff

‘They obviously got the wrong house’: Prince Albert man shaken after suspicious fire

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