A dream holiday turned into a nightmare for an Okotoks resident who returned home from vacation only to find her home severely damaged by fire. Four months later the nightmare continues.

When Shawna Birce and her daughter returned home from a holiday to Mexico on Jan. 3 she found her Okotoks condo scorched as a result of a fire in her neighbour’s unit.

“It was pretty disappointing to find out when coming home that my daughter and I didn’t have a home,” she said.

Okotoks resident Shawna Birce has been living a nightmare since a fire in a condo next to hers forced her from home.

Birce lived in a four-plex condo on McRae Street, which was the scene of a fire on New Year’s Day. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but it is a suspected arson and the owner of the condo where the fire started was severely burned in the incident.

Birce has been living a nightmare ever since the fire forced her from her home due to high carbon monoxide levels. In the meantime she has burned through her savings to cover high expenses while she waits for the insurance and legal issues to be resolved and her home to be properly repaired.

She lived in the condo for three-and-a-half years and is a single mother with a three-year-old daughter. Her condo did not catch fire and there was only a little fire damage to the balcony.

Birce had insurance and thought she would be okay, but in reality she has received little help.

“All I’ve been hearing is, ‘No, sorry we can’t do anything about it,’” she said.

Birce first stayed with her mother after the fire and eventually rented a furnished apartment in Calgary before finding a house to rent in Okotoks.

She said her insurance paid for a “quick fix” in her condo, repainting a few walls, replacing carpet and boarding over fire damage on her balcony.

Initially, she moved back into the condo, but she smelled smoke and started having headaches before realizing the furnace and air ducts had not been cleaned. The ducts were cleaned and air quality tests were conducted revealing higher than normal levels of carbon monoxide.

Birce was told to leave once again and find a new home to rent.

“My place is unlivable, you can’t even walk into it without either feeling nauseated or a headache after about 10 minutes,” she said.

Birce was told further repairs would be done in conjunction with work on the condo where the fire started, but they will only be covered by her insurance if completed within two years of the fire.

Further complicating the situation are questions the fire may have been a case of arson.

Okotoks RCMP Sgt. Ian Shardlow said investigation of the fire is ongoing.

He said it has taken some time, in part, because the individual involved in the fire suffered serious injuries and has had to recover.

In the meantime, Birce said the burned-out unit has remained untouched since the fire was extinguished with a strong smell of smoke and rotting food. She said she is worried about the potential for mould and the impact it could have on her home.

“This place is just being left the way it is because no one’s taking responsibility for it,” said Birce. “It’s almost four months later and nothing’s been done about the condo being rebuilt.”

Her insurance has covered rental expenses, but so far she has only been compensated for two months of rent and her coverage is running out.

“Once the money for additional living is gone, it’s gone and I’m on my own for everything,” she said.

Birce has paid for almost all of her other expenses out of her own pocket and she was forced to take time off work to deal with insurance and find places to rent.

She is also facing the prospect of having to pay both rent and her mortgage on a home she can’t live in.

Prior to the fire she had been planning on selling the condo. If she now sold the condo her insurance would not cover any lost value.

Birce said she isn’t prepared to walk away from her condo at this time, but she could face losing her condo and starting over if her situation doesn’t improve.

“It’ll mean foreclosure for me, which I’m terrified to do,” she said.

In the meantime, Birce is trying to make life as normal as possible for her daughter, something she said is not an easy task.

“It’s kind of hard to move on Easter weekend when you have a three-year-old,” she said. “You need to have a light switch for yourself, and your emotions and your reactions that way when you’re in front of your children you act as if everything is normal and everything is good.”

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