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'Homemade' extension cord caused blaze that destroyed family of 15's home: Fire investigator

A "homemade" extension cord caused the fire that destroyed the home of a rural Manitoba family who have been hit by back-to-back tragedies, according to the fire investigator.

"It's a matter of time before these things fail," said Ken Giersch, a senior fire investigator with EFI Global, a firm that provides forensic engineering and fire investigations.

Giersch pulled the faulty extension cord from the wreckage of the garage in Kleefeld on Tuesday. He said all extension cords should only be used on a temporary basis.

"It's not meant for permanent use. Eventually they will break down and they will fail," he said.

"And in this case it's a [half]-million-dollar loss because of a $5 extension cord."

The blaze broke out Sunday afternoon in the community located about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg.

No one was injured but damages are pegged at $500,000.

"It's unbelievable," said homeowner Jakob Bool as he stood in front of the burned-out shell of the home.

"I just say, 'Praise the Lord it [did] not happen at night.'"

Bool said it was a normal Sunday for his family. The family went to church and planned to go ice skating in the afternoon.

However, one of the girls saw thick, black smoke coming from the garage. Bool said he ran into the garage and couldn't see anything because of the smoke. That's when he yelled for everyone to get out of the house.

Eleven of his children were home, two others had already left.

The family ran to their neighbour's house through deep snow, some of them barefoot and in T-shirts.

Bool said it all happened so fast.

"At that time [I] was not [thinking about] the house. At that time I was [thinking about] the kids and that everybody is safe," he said.

The three fire halls in the Rural Municipality of Hanover responded to the blaze.

Community steps up to help

It's the second tragedy for the Bool family within the last few months.

In November, the family's 19-year-old son, Florian, died in a crash on Highway 52.

Bool said while that loss will weigh heavily on them for years, for now they are grateful for what they do have.

"It [will] take time for sure … We do have pretty good neighbours here and community and my relatives here," he said.

Bool said the family is staying with his brother-in-law in nearby Mitchell. He also said he plans to make inquiries about an empty house nearby to rent for the family.

In the meantime, the phone is ringing off the hook with offers of help, Bool added.

"Thank you very much ... Like, God bless you guys," he said.

"It's helpful. It's really, really good."

A GoFundMe campaign had raised $22,000 by late Tuesday.

Donations are also being accepted at the Steinbach Credit Union.