Vacant Parkview home burns just hours after infill protest

Only hours after a protest over infill in Parkview, fire crews fought a blaze at a vacant home across the street from where the protesters had gathered. Fire crews responded to the fire at the property on the corner of 147 Street and 88 Avenue at about 3 a.m. Monday. The home was one of seven on the street that has been sold to make way for infill projects. Those incoming multi-family projects were the reason that nearly 200 people gathered at that very intersection Sunday to protest the city's greenlighting of infill projects they said is hurting the character of Edmonton's mature neighbourhoods. They said more than 50 units will replace seven single-family homes, which they worry will cause issues with traffic, garbage collection and snow removal — and hurt values of exisiting homes in the community. Some of the residents who were at the protest Sunday were on the street Monday watching fire crews clear debris from the vacant property. Investigators on the scene could not comment on the fire. Richard White lives across the street from the vacant house. He said he saw an unfamiliar small, white car in the alley next to the house at about 1:30 a.m. Monday. He said he's nervous living in a neighbourhood that has so many homes that are about to be knocked down to make way for multiplexes. He worried that they make the area a target. 'I've got a house beside me that's been empty for about a year, and we keep kicking people out of there,' said White. 'I'm really nervous these days.' Two other neighbours, who did not want to be named, said the fire is cause for greater concern. 'It makes you wonder, are people angry enough to torch places?' said one neighbour. 'What if that fire had leapt to another house.' One said he was worried how the fire would impact people's chances of selling their homes. During Sunday's protest, residents had talked about how the infill had created a surge in the sale of exisiting homes; that there was an 'exodus' of longstanding residents. in the community. ssandor@postmedia.com [related_links / Bookmark our website and support our journalism:Don't miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.