An Okotoks man has been charged with torching his own house, a home east of downtown that continues to be a charred mess.

Police laid charges last week for a New Year’s Day fire that seriously damaged one unit and spread to the deck of an adjoining suite in a four-plex on McRae Street.

Jacob Bodnar-Lawrence is charged with five counts of arson, endangering life and one count of leaving the scene of the collision. He will be in Okotoks Provincial Court June 15.

While firefighters fought the blaze at approximately 11 p.m. on Jan. 1, police were called to the intersection of Northridge Drive and 338^th Avenue, where a severely burned man was flagging down traffic. He was flown by STARS Air Ambulance to the Foothills Hospital burn unit in Calgary.

Sgt. Ian Shardlow of the Okotoks RCMP said fire investigations are typically lengthy because evidence is often destroyed.

“If the entire building is consumed with fire sometimes there is no physical evidence left,” said Shardlow. “This was not the case, but there was a fair amount of damage done.”

Shardlow said in this case it took a long time to lay charges while they waited for their suspect to recover in hospital.

“We sincerely appreciate all the patience the victims extended to us,” said Shardlow.

However, one resident who lived next to the burned out suite, said she is not only running out of patience, but also running out of options.

The Western Wheel reported last month Shawna Birce had to move out of her suite next door to the burned unit when it was discovered high carbon monoxide levels were behind headaches she and her young daughter were suffering.

Shawna Birce had to move out of her suite near downtown Okotoks when it was discovered high carbon monoxide levels were behind headaches she and her young daughter were suffering. RCMP have laid charges related to the fire next door to Birce's unit.

Bodnar-Lawrence’s insurance company told Birce they would not cover the damage to the burned suite because the homeowner allegedly set the fire. As a result, there is no timeline as to when the suite will be repaired.

It appears to be a Catch-22 for Birce as insurance will not pay to have the burned unit repaired and the Town of Okotoks cannot take any action until repairs on the damaged unit begin.

Okotoks’ safety codes officer Rob Mueller and a health inspector also came to inspect the complex.

“The wall divisions, the floors, the ceilings, they are charred, but not burnt through,” said Mueller.

Mueller said the Town has no jurisdiction to do anything about the burned home until work to fix it begins.

The health inspector told Birce because she owns her own home, he can’t enforce any cleanup of the adjoining unit.

In the meantime, Birce’s insurance will pay for her rent at another home while she pays her mortgage, but only until October.

They said they can’t fix the carbon monoxide problem until the other suite is repaired. Birce said the problems she is having should be a wakeup call to others to check what kind of coverage they have.

“The things people don’t know about their insurance policy are the things you should know,” Birce said.

She has also contacted Highwood MLA George Groeneveld’s office for help and was told her information would be sent to a policy advisor from Service Alberta to see if they could do anything.

Another person living in the four-plex continues to occupy his suite while the other home that was up for sale at the time of the fire remains vacant.

Birce said those suites did not receive as much physical and smoke damage as her unit.

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