Police, fire continue to investigate house blaze in Vaughan and Oakwood area
Posted December 28, 2010 4:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – More details are coming to light as Toronto police and the Ontario fire marshals continue to investigate a five-alarm blaze that happened at a home in the city’s west end Sunday night.
The fire started around 10 p.m. at 489 Winona Drive, in the Vaughan Road and Oakwood Avenue area. Dozens of firefighters and 20 fire trucks were called to the scene before the flames were extinguished Monday morning.
The home was gutted and two neighbouring homes were damaged.
“This is not the first time police have been to this him this month,” Detective Paul Lentsch told 680News. “This is a concern because this is the third incident to this address within the last month.”
Earlier this month, shots were fired at the home from a passing vehicle and a few days later it was the target of Molotov cocktails.
The Toronto Star reported that a man in his 30’s was arrested two weeks ago for uttering death threats. The person’s name has not been released.
According to the Star, the owner of 489 Winona lost a U.S. deportation order, claiming he would be “tortured and killed” for acting as a police informant in a murder-for-hire plot.
The man, identified as Bojidar Zahariev, was ordered back to Canada in 2003 after a judge in California found no evidence to support the claim. Once back in Toronto, he co-founded a high end skin care company.
Meanwhile, Toronto Fire Chief Hugh Ross said the only information they have about Sunday’s fire is that, “its suspected arson,” but there is no official word on how it started.
Police said Zahariev, his wife and two young children managed to escape unhurt. Two police officers suffered minor smoke inhalation.
