Furnace installers help save man's home

Alex Wisniewski, a man trying to overcome his hoarding behaviour, found some help Thursday in a fight to stay in his Edmonton home.

"This was totally unexpected," he told CBC News. "I don't have words to describe how I felt."

"You can't imagine the gratefulness and not being able to put it in to words."

In August, Alberta Health Services told Wisniewski, 64, his house was unfit.

Wisniewski inherited the home from his mother in 1999.

Over the years, the rundown inner-city home became crammed with garbage and junk he compulsively collected.

It was also filled with waste from dozens of pet pigeons and cats.

Since the court order to clean up, he has made some progress, he said.

But AHS told him he needed a furnace and hot water heater, or risk losing his home. Wisniewski said he couldn't afford the work.

On Thursday local company Action Furnace installed a donated furnace in Wisniewski's home after hearing about his dilemma..." More