Police are investigating after a fire ripped through a house on Curve Lake First Nation early Wednesday morning.
Selwyn Township firefighters were called to the single storey bungalow on Mississauga Street around 1:30 a.m.
No one was home at the time.
Acting fire chief Randy Jopling says it took crews until 5 a.m. to get the fire under control.
“We found the fire was coming up through the windows and up through the roof when we got there,” he said.
Homeowner Anthony Rosetaylor – who was at his girlfriend’s house at the time – tells CHEX News that police discovered fresh footprints on the deck of the house and are treating the fire as a crime scene.
The home had been unoccupied for some time.
“About 3 o’clock in the morning the OPP showed up, asked me if I knew about my house,” said Rosetaylor. “As soon as they told me, I came down and checked it out. By the time I got down here it was gone; it was completely gone.”
Anishinabek Police Services and the Officer of the Ontario Fire Marshal are investigating. Peterborough County OPP were on scene to assist with traffic control.
A cause of the fire and a damage estimate have yet to be determined.
Rosetaylor says the home he inherited from his parents is likely a write-off. The house was not insured.
“They passed away about two years ago and I ended up getting the house through the will,” he said. “It has been in my family for probably about 60 years.”
It’s the second house fire in Curve Lake in recent days.
On Sunday, a home almost directly across the road was destroyed by fire. A cat inside also perished.
Firefighters say the cause of that blaze was careless smoking after a cigarette butt was tossed under the front porch.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched after that fire to help support siblings Alison and Sandy Benson. Sandy, a well-known dancer at powwows for nearly three decades, lost most of his regalia.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the campaign had raised nearly $10,000.