Can you imagine a house-sitting assignment gone so horribly wrong? A fire Saturday night in Pickering destroyed a 6000 sq. foot home that was in the care of a house-sitter while the owners were on vacation.

The beautiful waterfront property, said to be worth at least $1M was reportedly in the care of a 21 yr. old house-sitter who was watching the place for his father's boss. Yikes!

FIRE

As the story goes, the person was at the home alone, and thankfully there were no injuries. It's alleged the sitter was using the backyard deck gas BBQ which may have been the cause of the disaster. The 9-1-1 call was made around 7 pm and by the time fire crews arrived around 7:15 the house was completely engulfed in flames. The fire department continued to work until well past 11 p.m.

There is no word on how the owners responded when contacted, insurance or things of that nature. One report said the home belonged to a prominent area dentist. Considering what it costs for dental work these days, I wouldn't be surprised if he rebuilds bigger and better.

Have you ever house sat? I've done it a couple of times and the worst thing that happened is I broke a plate. OK, I've never told anyone this before. When my girlfriend was house-sitting she invited me over and we "visited" the master bedroom, but we did do a load of laundry before anyone returned.

So far it looks like this fire was just one of those things. I was thinking this poor young man was likely using the outdoor BBQ thinking it was safer than cooking in the house. Who knows what was going through his mind, then and especially now. You gotta feel for this guy, AND his dad at the office. Maybe years from now he and everyone can look back and laugh, but I imagine a lot of time will have to pass before that can happen. LEAVE COMMENTS.

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