Burnaby musician loses home studio, years of work in fire

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BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Musician Michael Ertzinger watched his life’s work go up in flames earlier this month as his home studio was destroyed by a fire.

The Burnaby multi-instrumentalist and composer says he made it out of his home with just the clothes on this back that morning. His mother and youngest brother were able to narrowly escape from the house, however, two lovebirds were lost in the fire.

“It sounded at first like a gust of wind but it was steady enough that I thought, ‘Is this a tornado or what could possibly be making this sound?'” he says. “I looked down the stairs and I saw really thick smoke coming up from the bottom of the house.”

(Source: michaelrene.ca)

He started yelling to his family to get out of the house. But when he tried to use a fire extinguisher on the flames, he says the fire reignited in “full force,”  taking away everything he has work tirelessly for over the years, including his dream to have a fully-equipped recording studio.

“It wasn’t just the equipment. It was also all of my files and all of the work that I’ve done for the past seven years, which I had stored on two computers and multiple backups which were placed throughout that room,” he tells NEWS 1130.

As a trumpet player and pianist, he says he had a grand piano, several keyboards and synthesizers in the room, along with production and recording equipment, and high-end speakers.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by the local music community to help cover the costs to replace the equipment. As of Sunday morning, more than $2,000 of the $20,000 goal had been raised.

“Losing all of his expensive musical instruments and recording equipment in this terrible accident is a tremendous setback to him,” reads the page. “Our hope is that you will be inspired by Michael’s dedication to his vision and life’s calling and that you will want to help support him in getting back on his feet again.”

Ertzinger says he still has to pay about $70,000 for the equipment and estimates the costs to rebuild his studio to be around $250,000

“It’s immensely touching. I’m really, really grateful for the support I’m receiving,” he says of the fundraising efforts.

A fundraising page has also been set up for the family home.

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