KITCHENER - It was just before midnight when the house next door exploded, shaking Corneliu Prisecaru's home like an earthquake.

He fled into the snow with his wife Lidia and their 11 terrified children. That was Jan. 27, 2013.

Six years later, the Prisecaru family may have to leave a different home where they now live with eight of their children, aged nine to 24.

Their future is as uncertain today as it was on that terrible night.

Prisecaru, 47, owes his insurer $147,661 after losing a legal battle he launched in the fallout of the explosion. He says he can't pay the court-ordered debt.

He has stopped paying his rent. His landlord may terminate his tenancy.

He's pleading with governments for help. They have declined to get involved in a private legal matter.

"Only God helps me," says Prisecaru, an animated speaker of broken English who refers often to the Bible he carries.

His family has now faced two disasters. One was done to them. The other flows from the choices they made in the blast's aftermath.

It began on a quiet Sunday night. Inside the Prisecaru home, everyone was asleep or preparing for bed after evening prayers.

Next door, natural gas was building up in the basement at 429 Activa Ave.

When it ignited, the upper floor of their neighbour's house seemed to crumple on itself. Their neighbour's garage door blew across the street.

Flames and smoke followed. The blast damaged the Prisecaru home, shattering a bathroom window.

Four neighbours were hurt in the blast but no one died. Investigators never determined why gas filled their basement.

"There was a failure in that gas supply system somewhere," said Tom Ruggle, who investigated for the Kitchener Fire Department.

Other homes were checked. Ruggle is confident the neighbourhood gas system is safe and reliable.

The ruined home was later replaced. Damage was repaired at the Prisecaru home at 425 Activa Ave.

But the spooked family refused to return.

"My family will never live in this house again," Prisecaru later told a court. "The only person who would go back is Jesus."

Battling his insurer, Prisecaru escalated the conflict, suing Intact Insurance for $3.1 million, alleging bad faith and "reprehensible conduct."

He is a man familiar with danger and drama. He came to Canada in 2001 after stowing away in a shipping container.

Accepted as a refugee from Romania, he has worked in construction to build a life for his family.

In 2014, Prisecaru sold his family's repaired home for $375,000 - $34,300 below its assessed value. He says that money has been spent.

The lawsuit against Intact went to trial in 2016, with Prisecaru representing himself without a lawyer because "God told me to keep going."

The outcome was disastrous.

"He was looking for someone that he could blame for the suffering that he and his family had gone through," Justice Robert Reilly concluded.

"These are human feelings and I understand them, but they do not justify the claim in contract that was made against Intact Insurance and which claims I have dismissed."

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Reilly called the lawsuit "effectively a frivolous claim that had no chance of success."

"Did you not realize you had virtually no chance?" Reilly asked.

Prisecaru responded: "I'll go to the end."

Reilly ruled that Intact met its obligation to see the damaged home made safe. The firm was not obliged to provide a new house in a different location as Prisecaru desired.

The judge found Intact was "courteous, respectful and patient in the extreme. ... The same could not be said of Mr. Prisecaru."

Settlement offers were made during trial. Prisecaru demanded $800,000. The firm offered $50,000.

Reilly told Prisecaru he should have taken the offer and ordered him to pay Intact's legal costs of $145,021.

"I would much prefer to see you as at least partially successful, having received $50,000 and walked away," Reilly said. "I admire your dedication to your family, sir, but sometimes you must be practical."

Prisecaru appealed the ruling and lost again. He asked the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene but it would not hear his appeal.

Intact went to court in March to garnish Prisecaru's wages and collect on his debt to the firm.

The company declined an interview but provided a statement. "The courts consistently found that Intact had been reasonable," spokesperson Hazel Tan said.

"We understand this is a difficult time for the Prisecaru family and we remain open to working with them to find a solution that is manageable."

Prisecaru is now appealing to municipal, provincial and federal politicians for help. All have told him in writing that it is inappropriate for a politician to interfere in a legal judgment.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic wrote him to say "this is a civil matter and not something we can assist with."

But if the family needs to find another home, local government would help, Vrbanovic said.

jouthit@therecord.com

Twitter: @OuthitRecord