By Chris Lambie
The Daily News
A 48-year-old Seaforth man accused of shooting his family?s five dogs before burning his house down Wednesday calmly offered neighbours cookies from a jar as he watched the two-storey cedar home burn to the ground.
Michael Tufts warned firefighters the Causeway Road home contained live ammunition as they arrived around noon.
?I asked him how much, and he just kept walking,? said Lawrencetown Beach fire Chief Murray Giles.
?We heard the ammunition popping so we just stayed back ? When they pop, those bullets can go anywhere.?
Earl Wolfe, who lives nearby, said he was surprised when Tufts offered him a cookie as they watched the fire.
?What can you say? Weird things happen,? said Wolfe, who declined the cookie offer.
Tufts told Wolfe to ?Enjoy the fire,? before approaching Mounties at the scene and getting into a police car.
About 30 firefighters let the house burn and concentrated on saving neighbouring homes.
?We didn?t want to take any chances,? Giles said.
?The house was fully involved. It was a loss when we got here. We don?t put people at risk.?
The home collapsed after about 20 minutes.
Nobody was injured, but the fire destroyed a car and a truck.
Tufts is slated to appear in Dartmouth provincial court today on charges of arson and killing his family?s five German shepherds without a lawful excuse.
Lester Schnare was coming home from lobster fishing when he saw the fire nextdoor.
?When I came around the turn, my heart was pumping; I figured this place was going, too,? said Schnare, who started dousing his own house with a garden hose.
Tufts often left home to work for telephone companies in the Arctic, Quebec and the United States. But he?s been living on Causeway Road recently with his wife and their four daughters, ages nine to 17.
?This is the longest time he?s been home in a while,? said Oran Barkhouse, who runs a nearby craft shop.
Tufts was often seen walking around the Eastern Shore neighbourhood with one or more of the family?s dogs.
Elaine Tufts, who assists handicapped youngsters at three different schools, was working at the time of the fire. Her daughters were at school.
The Daily News
A 48-year-old Seaforth man accused of shooting his family?s five dogs before burning his house down Wednesday calmly offered neighbours cookies from a jar as he watched the two-storey cedar home burn to the ground.
Michael Tufts warned firefighters the Causeway Road home contained live ammunition as they arrived around noon.
?I asked him how much, and he just kept walking,? said Lawrencetown Beach fire Chief Murray Giles.
?We heard the ammunition popping so we just stayed back ? When they pop, those bullets can go anywhere.?
Earl Wolfe, who lives nearby, said he was surprised when Tufts offered him a cookie as they watched the fire.
?What can you say? Weird things happen,? said Wolfe, who declined the cookie offer.
Tufts told Wolfe to ?Enjoy the fire,? before approaching Mounties at the scene and getting into a police car.
About 30 firefighters let the house burn and concentrated on saving neighbouring homes.
?We didn?t want to take any chances,? Giles said.
?The house was fully involved. It was a loss when we got here. We don?t put people at risk.?
The home collapsed after about 20 minutes.
Nobody was injured, but the fire destroyed a car and a truck.
Tufts is slated to appear in Dartmouth provincial court today on charges of arson and killing his family?s five German shepherds without a lawful excuse.
Lester Schnare was coming home from lobster fishing when he saw the fire nextdoor.
?When I came around the turn, my heart was pumping; I figured this place was going, too,? said Schnare, who started dousing his own house with a garden hose.
Tufts often left home to work for telephone companies in the Arctic, Quebec and the United States. But he?s been living on Causeway Road recently with his wife and their four daughters, ages nine to 17.
?This is the longest time he?s been home in a while,? said Oran Barkhouse, who runs a nearby craft shop.
Tufts was often seen walking around the Eastern Shore neighbourhood with one or more of the family?s dogs.
Elaine Tufts, who assists handicapped youngsters at three different schools, was working at the time of the fire. Her daughters were at school.
