The last pieces of a Dufferin home that has served as a neighbourhood reminder of a night of fear are being taken away.

Demolition of the house that was destroyed after a hostage taking and bomb detonation two months ago began Friday.

Extreme Excavating owner Doug MacLeod said the chimney was the first thing to come down. He expected most of the wood and debris to be cleared by day's end. The concrete and foundation will be broken up and taken out on the weekend or early next week.

And within four or five days at most, the house that symbolized a horrific event for the neighbourhood will be gone.

"I'm sure they're all going to be quite happy to see it gone," he said of the neighbours around Cannel Place.

Paul Zaetsoff held his 18-month-old son Jayden as he watched the excavator's claw tear down the concrete remnants of the house and pile up the charred rubble on the property.

Jayden covered his ears to dull the noise from the large machine.

Zaetsoff said he was glad to see the cleanup begin on the cul-de-sac lot, but he had many things going through his mind as he watched the building that served as a reminder for the past two months finally being taken down.

On May 17, 48-year-old Dennan Crosby parked a van wired with explosives in front of the driveway of the home, then forced his way in and took renter Darlene Young hostage. Her boyfriend and their kids escaped.

After a standoff that lasted more than six hours, Crosby, who had more explosives with him and on his body, released Young, then detonated the bomb.

That set the house ablaze. Because of the explosives, firefighters had to keep a distance. They focused on saving the surrounding homes as the house with the bomber burned to the ground.

Afterward, a shaky-looking cinder-block chimney standing out from the rubble worried neighbours.

Finally, on Friday, the chimney was clawed down by the excavator and the burned lumber, remnants of insulation, fragments of concrete and plywood piled up to be scooped into dumpsters. A summer lounge chair was pulled into the pile.

Zaetsoff, who lives on Cannel Drive nearby, was out for a walk with his young son when he saw the excavator working.

"It was nice to see them finally start to clean up, so families can start healing," he said.

In a few days, the remains of the house will be gone. Eventually, a new house will be built and new residents will move in.

For Zaetsoff and the other people who live around Cannel Place, the memory of what occurred there on May 17 will never be gone.

With one more reminder disappearing, though, so will some of the hurt.