An Aldergrove family is seeking more than half a million dollars in compensation from Apple after their rural home burned down in a fire they say was caused by a charging iPhone.
Ian and Cathy Finley, owners of Laurica Farm at 25775 12 Ave., are drowning in debt and have been forced to close their business following the Oct. 11, 2016 fire.
Delays from both their insurance company, The Co-operators Insurance, and Apple have led them to max out all of their credit lines and borrow large amounts of money to survive and rebuild their home.
With the burned-out house located in the centre of their organic farm, they cancelled the events, workshops and education seminars they were planning, including a dinner that was to be hosted by Top Chef Canada, Matthew Stowe.
To save money, they have been doing all of the home demolition and rebuilding work themselves, making it difficult to keep up with their farming duties. As a result, this past January they announced on social media the closure of their business, which had been thriving prior to the fire.
The family has now borrowed enough money to finish construction on their home and to stay on their land for one year. After that, they will be forced to sell.
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Desperate to keep their farm, last week the Finleys went public, posting a change.org petition that included their financial statements, email chains, emotional phone calls to Apple, photos, letters and impact statements.
鈥淲e鈥檙e asking (Apple) to cover our costs, which is just over $500,000. That doesn鈥檛 take into consideration any emotional trauma, or anything like that,鈥� Cathy said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e desperate people. We don鈥檛 have the luxury of going through five years of litigation. We just don鈥檛, we have a year to stay here on borrowed money and then it鈥檚 all gone. The community鈥檚 lost out, we鈥檝e lost out, and our kids (Lauren, 17, and Jessica, 10) have been impacted hugely.鈥�
Cathy said the family isn鈥檛 asking to become rich 鈥� they simply want to get their business back and keep the farm going. She has even suggested setting up the farm as a charity, so Apple can make a donation to them as a non-profit instead.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 too much to ask for them to put us back in the same place we were financially the day before the fire. We have had some insurance payout, we鈥檙e not hiding that fact. We thought we deserved a bit more, but we got as much as we could fight for. But there was so much uninsured loss that hasn鈥檛 been taken into consideration,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a combination of loss of the business, loss of earnings. We鈥檝e had to stay here and build the house ourselves, we did all the demolition ourselves. All of the events, the weddings and things like that, that we were doing, haven鈥檛 been happening.
鈥淎nd there鈥檚 little things, like all of the power went into the old house and out into the farm. So all of that had to be trenched and diverted throughout the farm, which was hours of work and materials. There鈥檚 things like, because of the delays we鈥檙e now building in the winter, so we鈥檝e got that big gas heater drying everything out. Our Fortis bill is like $800 a month at the moment. All of those things are outside of what is a normal insurance policy.鈥�
Part of the issue is that Apple and the insurance company are at a stalemate, Cathy said. Apple is requesting to see the burned phone to do their own examination, but the phone is currently with an independent agency.
鈥淭hey just need to make a date and get their heads together now. So while they鈥檝e been doing this back and forth within this legal framework, there鈥檚 been real people involved who are struggling to support their family and keep their business alive,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e found ourselves between a rock and a hard place with nowhere to maneuver.鈥�
Apple said they are looking into the matter.
鈥淲e are looking into the customer鈥檚 claim, but have yet to be able to analyze the device,鈥� said Tara Hendela, head of public relations for Apple in Canada.
FIRE INVESTIGATION
According to the field report from the Township of 91原创 fire department, the fire originated in a leather chair in the living room where an iPhone 6 had been charging.
At about 10 a.m. Oct. 11, the day after Thanksgiving, Cathy came home from grocery shopping, plugged in her iPhone to charge, and went outside to do chores.
Around 10:30 a.m., she came back to the house to find it engulfed in smoke and flames.
Wearing an air cast from a previous foot injury, she ran down the country road to her neighbour鈥檚 house to call the fire department.
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Fire crews quickly arrived and doused the flames. There was little fire damage to the structure, but significant smoke and heat damage, according to the report. Fire Prevention Officer Capt. Ken Strand wrote that the house was 鈥渘ot inhabitable鈥� and would 鈥渓ikely be rebuilt.鈥�
鈥淭he chair had significant damage and burn patterns indicating the fire started on the seat area of the chair,鈥� the report states.
鈥淚t would appear that the phone or charger generated enough heat to ignite the leather chair and notebook and start the fire.鈥�
However, the exact cause of the fire cannot be determined until lab results from examination of the phone are released, said Pat Walker, Township assistant fire chief.
There are still many unknowns, such as if the charging cord had damage, if the phone had been dropped, or if the phone had mechanical failures.
鈥淭he cellphone was found in the area of origin,鈥� Walker told the Times.
鈥淯ntil we have testing done, it鈥檚 only an assumption it was the phone (that caused the fire).鈥�
ONGOING TRAUMA
After the incident, the Finleys settled in to a hotel, and eventually set up an RV on their property.
They spent a cold winter in the mobile unit, before taking some of their insurance money to convert a storage building into accommodations. Even with that, the laundry is in the barn 鈥� where the pipes freeze when it鈥檚 cold 鈥� and their washroom is outside.
The experience has been exhausting.
鈥淚t鈥檚 had an impact on our health, definitely. I haven鈥檛 been talking about this much publicly, but I am taking mood stabilizers and antidepressants to keep me going. Ian鈥檚 been the rock, but he鈥檚 also struggling. It鈥檚 a difficult one to manage,鈥� Cathy said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 some trauma when you leave your property with just the clothes you鈥檙e standing up in and nothing else. And trying to be positive about that, trying to be in survival mode, because we鈥檝e got two kids. And their thoughts and feelings and welfare are paramount at that time.鈥�
Since going public, Cathy said the support from clients and the 91原创 community has been more than they could have hoped for. She has even received messages from strangers who have had similar incidents happen with their smartphones.
鈥淚鈥檓 certainly now going through a period of feeling very exposed and vulnerable. And I鈥檓 a person who put naked photos of 鈥榥aked gardening day鈥� online, so it takes a lot to make me feel exposed,鈥� Cathy said.
鈥淏ut definitely talking about things like the mental health issues that we鈥檝e all experienced has been difficult. I know we should be open and we should be talking about these things, and I promised transparency, so that鈥檚 why I have to deliver.
鈥淎gain, we鈥檝e got to have some integrity in delivering those things. It was all or nothing. If you go down that route and you鈥檙e asking somebody to do the right thing, you can鈥檛 put out half of it, you can鈥檛 cherry pick. You鈥檝e got to own it.
鈥淚 think it speaks to our desperation. I think it speaks to our commitment to want to keep the farm going and the good work that the farm was doing. And our horror that we might lose our house again and have to uproot our family again 鈥� and all because of an iPhone charger.鈥�
The Finley鈥檚 petition can be found online at .
miranda@langleytimes.com
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