HALIFAX – Police say a man arrested Thursday in connection with a house fire in North End Halifax that killed an elderly man has been released without charges.
Daniel Maclennan, 92, died after being pulled unconscious from his burning home on Acadia Street.
Police say the 49-year-old man was not formally charged.
“I can’t give you detail as to how he arrived here but he was arrested here at the station,” said Const. Pierre Bourdages of the Halifax Regional Police.
He was also mum about how the man and the victim may know one another. A neighbour said Maclennan lived at the home with his son.
An autopsy revealed the cause of death was smoke inhalation.
News that an arrest had been made Friday morning was still sinking in for some nearby residents.
“That’s terrible. I don’t know what I can say to that,” said Doreen Grieve, who lives across from Maclennan.
Doreen and her husband Ron have lived on Acadia Street for decades, about as long as Maclennan did. The couple say he attended the same church as them.
Ron was listening to the radio when he heard the sirens and then saw smoke pouring out of the windows.
“I saw them bringing someone out in the gurney there and take them out of the ambulance but I didn’t know who it was,” he said.
The couple are still in shock something like this happened on their street.
“It’s a very quiet street. I can’t believe it. Every day it sounds like Sunday,” said Ron.
Neighbours initially spotted the fire around 3 p.m. Thursday and called the fire department.
“He was calling to us out of the top window,” said Corinne Smith. “There was no way you could get anywhere near him there was so much black smoke coming out.”
A young man tried to kick in the door to help Maclennan, but there was too much smoke, said Smith. Firefighters arrived at the house soon after.
“As part of the primary search firefighters did find an elderly gentleman on the second floor in a bedroom and there was a fire on the first floor,” said Deputy Fire Chief Roy Hollett. Firefighters extinguished the fire within the hour.
Maclennan died in hospital late Thursday night. Neighbours said considering his age, he was in very good health.
“He would walk up and down the streets 50 times a day,” said Smith. “He was just a nice healthy old man that never hurt anyone.”
Forensic and fire investigators were at the scene Friday trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
Halifax police say they are still investigating the incident.
With files from Julia Wong and Ben MacDonald
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