Northumberland OPP are investigating the fourth suspicious fire this spring in the Roseneath area after a blaze destroyed an abandoned home in Alderville First Nation early Sunday morning.
Around 1 a.m., while responding to an unrelated call, an officer noticed flames from an abandoned home on Megyaak Drive. The area is about 60 kilometres south of Peterborough.
The officer contacted fire crews, but by the time firefighters from both Alnwick/Haldimand and Hamilton townships arrived, the home was engulfed in flames.
Because hydro had been disconnected to the building, police suspect the fire was deliberately set. The cause remains under investigation.
Earlier this spring three fires occurred in a span of three weeks in the Roseneath area, just a few kilometres north of Alderville, and all were deemed suspicious. A fire on April 9 destroyed the historic St. James Anglican Church. On March 26, a fire destroyed a commercial building that housed a real-estate office. A week earlier, fire consumed a County Road 45 house that was under renovation.
However, officials say it’s unclear if the fire in Alderville is connected.
“I would like to caution that trying to relate this to the incidents that were happening in Roseneath, they’re unsubstantiated and we can’t confirm that,” said Alnwick Haldimand Township Fire Department Chief Mark Diminie.
The Ontario Fire Marshall has not been contacted.
WATCH: Three suspicious fires in three weeks in Roseneath area