It was Nov. 26, and for Tracy Lima and her family, the countdown to Christmas was officially on.

She had just ordered Christmas cards that morning. Around lunchtime that day, she received a call from her mother that no one can prepare for.

“She just said, ‘Tracy, you need to come home,” she recalled. “‘Come home right now, your house is on fire.'”

Eight days later, Tracy’s home looks like any other on the block in the southwest Calgary neighbourhood of Millrise — except snow still covers the driveway.

“I was in the house just walking around for probably about four hours just to figure out what happened… it wasn’t a good decision because I got quite sick after,” Lima recounted.

The fire torched a bathroom, closet and bedroom upstairs, rendering the home uninhabitable — and taking with

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