2 homes heavily damaged in possible suspicious fire
Posted September 13, 2019 5:51 am.
Last Updated September 13, 2019 8:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A possible case of arson is under investigation after two homes under construction were badly damaged in an overnight fire in Scarborough.
Emergency crews were called to Westbourne Avenue, in the Victoria Park and St Clair avenues area, around 4 a.m. Friday where they found both buildings fully engulfed in flames.
Fire officials said the blaze started in the garage of one of the homes and then spread to a second home.
There has been no official word on how the fire may have started but Platoon Chief James Green said they are investigating if it is suspicious.
“For it to spread so fast and to be so fully involved when we arrived, that definitely makes us a little bit suspicious,” Green explained.
“We’re also having reports from neighbours that people were seen in the area just before the fire and they’re checking their home video cameras to see if they’ve got anything they can turn over to the police and our investigating team.”
The fire was elevated to three alarm and crews remain are expected to remain on scene all morning dousing hot spots.
“We’ve gone to a third alarm just to relieve crews, we’re using 65 mil hose and aerial hoses … we’ve got a lot of water going down the street, we’ve got a lot of water on these structures,” Platoon Chief James Green explained.
“We’ll have crews here, could be as late as noon.”
Two aerial units are spraying water from the front and back of the homes.
Green said the wall on the north side of one of the homes was “severely compromised.” A short time later the wall collapsed.
Neighbouring homes have been evacuated as a precaution.
