HALIBURTON, Ont. - A cottage on Haliburton Lake belonging to former Ontario finance minister Greg Sorbara was destroyed by fire Thursday morning.
Sorbara said he and his wife, Kate, bought the property in 1982 and the current cottage was built about 10 years later.
"We built it ourselves," Sorbara said. "We designed it and we built it."
"My wife's nephew was the chief contractor," he said.
Kate Sorbara said there was only one other cottage like it.
"It was kind of a unique construction," she said.
There are reports an explosion was heard and when the fire crew arrived at the cottage in the South Bay area it was fully engulfed in flame.
"My sense is it was probably the propane tanks," said Sorbara, who represents Vaughan in the Ontario legislature.
The Dysart fire department was unable to save the cottage on the lake just south of Algonquin Park, but managed to extinguish a fire that had spread into the nearby bush.
Fire Chief Miles Maughan said Thursday evening that the Ontario Fire Marshal had investigated the fire scene, but no cause has been determined.
"It's not suspicious," Maughan said.
"We weren't able to confirm any explosions, but the propane did vent," Maughan said, adding that it's possible a power surge could have sparked the blaze.
Sorbara said police told him the power had been out in that area overnight and there might have been a surge when power was restored.
"It was a beautiful building," Kate Sorbara said.
Greg Sorbara said they loved the cottage building, but it was the location that was always "the most charming part."
"That's still there," he said. "The problem is, now we've got to rebuild."
