There was apparently a fire at my relatives cottage in Pointe-au-Baril last night.

No one was staying there at the time, but this was an extremely big investment for them. They had purchased it and restored/rebuilt/improved a lot of it to get it into its current condition, and now it has been destroyed due to fire damage. They are heading up to see it now, so I am not sure what the cause of the fire was nor how much damage the cottage has sustained. It might not be so bad, but we’ll see.

I am just glad that no one was up there.

I also feel bad for my uncle. He just retired from his job and this was his retirement place. My aunts - I believe - were intending on retiring in a few years as well. This sort of throws a wrench into those plans.

I hope everything works out for them.

---

UPDATE: Apparently, it has not worked out for them. Although I do not believe they have yet arrived at Pointe-au-Baril, the most recent update that I have heard from one of my aunts is that the cottage has collapsed. The fire damage was so extensive and the volunteer fire department was ill-equiped to handle such a blaze. By the time anyone had arrived to save the building, it was apparently beyond salvaging.

My cousin - who is accompanying them to Pointe-au-Baril - has said that he suspects arson. He says that his neighbours encountered a similar problem. A group of people break into a house or cottage while the owner is away, throw an expansive party, pile all the furniture in the middle of the house and light it on fire. Prevents anyone from identifying who was there. So, apparently there are people who think it is fun to commit several serious crimes in a single night. I wonder if they murder and rape someone at this party too. Seems like they would need that to flesh out their list of crimes a little bit.

UPDATE AGAIN:

Before and after pictures from roughly the same angle. The “before” cottage pictures were taken in the summer. The “after” cottage pictures were taken today (around noon).