HALIFAX – Investigators are calling a fire that destroyed a Timberlea, N.S. home early Monday morning suspicious.
Fire crews were called just after 3:30 a.m. to the two-storey structure on Sprucebrook Lane.
The home, which was under renovation, was unoccupied at the time.
Chuck Bezanson, division commander with Halifax Regional Fire service, says the house was engulfed in flames and the fire had spread to an adjacent home.
“They did extinguish the fire in the adjacent home and it is still intact but the other home was too far gone and they assumed a defensive strategy and just basically put water on it until it collapsed on itself,” Bezanson said.
A firefighter had to be taken to hospital as a precaution.
The home was located just off St. Margaret’s Bay Road, and caused the partial closure of the busy street leading into the community.
Fire investigators and an RCMP forensic unit were on the scene later in the morning, as firefighters put out hot spots. An excavator will be used to lift up debris so crews can properly extinguish the fire.
It will also help prevent run-off into a nearby brook.
“We are concerned for the environment and we don’t want any run-off,” Bezanson said.
“We haven’t had any yet and because of the way the debris is piled, it would take an awful lot of water to soak through to extinguish them and we’d run the risk of having runoff.”
Fire officials cleared the scene late Monday afternoon and released the property back to its owner.
Investigators expect to release the cause of the fire this week.
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