It's been almost two months since a Dufferin home was incinerated after an alleged stalker forced his way in and blew himself up.

Now the neighbours say they want to move on from that petrifying night, but the remaining burned out hulk filled with charred furniture and household items, half walls and a precariously perched cinder-block chimney is preventing that.

On May 17, 48-year-old Dennan Crosby pushed his way into Sherry Young's rental home while wearing explosives as she arrived with her boyfriend and four children. Several hours later Crosby let Young go, detonated his equipment and incinerated the house. He died in the blast.

Young and her loved ones were left to pick up the pieces of their lives after escaping without injury that night, never to return.

Neighbours say they want their neighbourhood back, but for that to happen the property has to be cleared out.

Gene and Shirley Sanderson can't use the backyard that connects them to the wreckage anymore because of the upsetting sight. And their neighbours are afraid the cinder-block chimney that hangs over their yard will one day fall.

"I couldn't even drive around that way because when you see it, you know something terrible happened on your street," said Shirley Sanderson. "It's the ache and pain of the community."

Vern Reynolds sees that heartache every time he comes home or even looks out his front window. The retired miner has lived in his house across the street for 25 years.

He now associates the close-knit neighbourhood to the night they were all lucky to get through alive.

"When you heard that (Crosby's) car that the police were using as a barricade was booby-trapped, the sweat comes out," he said. "I can't believe how lucky we are to get away with him being the only one that lost his life. It could've very easily been many more."

Reynolds felt encouraged when he saw an excavator arrive and begin pulling items out a week ago. But two days later, the machinery left, never to return. It left him wondering when the property would ever be cleaned up.

"Nobody seems to care what happens," he said. "Kids are kids. They're going to get in there and play."

Property owner Wayne Vollrath, a former City of Kamloops corporate clerk, did not immediately return calls for comment on Wednesday.

Insurance adjustor Fraser Anderson of Huston Grant said he understands the frustration.

"The entire circumstances are nothing short of tragic," he said. "Believe me, if the site could be cleaned up safely with the proper permits in place the following week after the investigation was complete, that's what would happen."

Anderson said an investigation involving police, fire experts and coroner service had to take place. Then a private investigation was done to assess the claim.

Then several regulatory steps were needed before a permit could be issued for demolition, including an environmental assessment and a WorkSafeBC assessment for hazardous material.

Recent flood watches also slowed down the process since it occupied so many excavators, which were need to shore up City infrastructure.

And finally, utility companies have to send workers to clear gas, phone and hydro connections.

Contractors brought in machinery last week because they believed utility companies would clear connections within a day or two.

But when it became apparent it would take Fortis a few weeks to send someone, they pulled out again.

"That's a timeframe we can't expedite," said Anderson.

Once lines are cleared, the City permit could be another few weeks away, he said.

Kundan Bubbar of the City of Kamloops development and engineering services department said answers would come Thursday after verifying the status of the permit for Cannel Drive.