Officials investigating another suspicious fire at unoccupied house

Fire and police officials are looking at possible links between three recent fires at unoccupied houses in the southeast portion of Wellington County.

An Oct. 28 fire destroyed an unoccupied home on Arkell Road near Nassagaweya-Puslinch Townline, less than 10km from two similar fires in neighbouring Guelph-Eramosa on Oct. 14 and 19.

A passerby called in the latest fire just after 5:30am on Friday, explained Puslinch Fire Chief Steve Goode. He told the Advertiser the house was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

“That’s a great indicator for us that something’s going on because it’s not a traditional house where it could be smoking materials that caused the fire, a pot on the stove or electrical,” Goode explained.

“There was no hydro to the building so ... when we look at the facts to consider as far as what caused the fire not many other than maybe an incendiary of some sort.”

OPP Sergeant Jamie Gillespie said the fire is being treated as arson.

He added that until police and fire officials “get a more clear initial cause of the fire they won’t know for sure, but that’s the suspicion ... that it’s going to be arson.”

He added, “Just because something looks one way with a fire doesn’t mean it turns out to be that way.”

The house on Arkell Road was under renovations at the time of the fire, but was unoccupied, Goode said.

About 25 firefighters from the Puslinch, Guelph-Eramosa and Guelph fire departments fought the blaze from outside the home. By 10:30am the fire was extinguished and crews were putting out hot spots.

“The cause of the fire will likely be undetermined, but it’s suspicious,” Goode said.

He said the department’s biggest concern was to confirm there was no one inside at the time of the fire.

“There has been individuals seen at the home, trespassing weeks before, so we just want to make sure that there was nobody inside,” Goode said. “We believe that there is nobody inside. We need to confirm it.”

The Arkell Road fire is the third suspicious fire at an unoccupied home in 15 days. The other two took place on Oct. 14 and 19 less than 10km away, on the 3rd Line in Guelph-Eramosa Township.

“Certainly there are ... some factors that are similar in nature as far as timing, the fact that ... it was unoccupied,” Goode said. “That leads us to suspicious activity potentially.

“However at this point there’s nothing that we can state that confirms they’re all linked together but certainly the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Fire Marshall’s office acknowledge ... these fires in abandoned buildings, unoccupied buildings.

“There’s been three in the last two weeks and certainly we’re going to be looking at all three fires.”

Gillespie said police are also investigating all three blazes but are not yet sure if they are connected.

Goode said large setbacks  from the road made all three suspicious fires difficult to detect and to fight.

In all three cases fire departments used water shuttles, with a porta-tank set up at the end of the laneway. The Puslinch fire department used at least 20,000 gallons of water to fight the Oct. 28 fire, Goode said.

Though the cause of the fire is unknown, Goode encouraged residents to remain vigilant.

“We want them to be aware that this is happening so that they’re concentrating and looking for suspicious behaviour,” he said. “That will certainly help us.”

The OPP, Puslinch Fire and Rescue Services and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal are investigating the fire.

Anyone with information should contact the Wellington County OPP at 1-888-310-1122. To remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a tip online at www.csgw.tips.