Edmonton Fire Rescue has determined a massive blaze that destroyed one home and damaged several others last week was the result of arson and caused $3 million in damage.
Fire crews were called to the Windermere Drive home at around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 to find flames shooting out of a home and smoke billowing. The home was under construction and no one was living there at the time. Crews were able to get the fire under control in about 30 minutes.
“The wind was blowing in the right direction for us and we were able to stop it with pretty much one house burning down,” district chief Dan Klingbeil said last week.
The case has been handed over to the Edmonton Police Service who will investigate the arson. A police spokesperson declined to comment on the cause, saying only the fire was still under investigation.
A neighbour told Global News last week that there had been another fire at the same house in the spring.
“Last spring, the roof was on fire while it was still under construction,” Steve Ashburn said, adding the home had been under construction for about a year and that it was likely approaching the drywalling phase.
Ashburn told Global News that neighbours had been expressing some suspicions that the fire may have been deliberately set.
“Everybody’s wondering.”
The under-construction home was the only one destroyed, but some neighbouring homes sustained damage to vinyl siding siding and cracked windows. KIingbeil estimated three homes suffered damage.
– With files from Karen Bartko and Phil Heidenreich, Global News
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