The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office (OFM) is continuing its investigation into a fatal fire in Admaston/Bromley Township early last Thursday morning that has been deemed suspicious in nature.
The fire at a residence on Hwy. 132 near Stone Road claimed the life of the lone male occupant who was located deceased inside once firefighters were able to gain entry. The Douglas Fire Department was dispatched at 5:23 a.m.
“When we arrived, there were flames showing from the Delta (southwest) side,” Chief Bill McHale said.
“There were flames coming from the rafters, and there was a heavy, heavy burn at the back of the house near the patio doors and the deck.
“There were two vehicles in the yard, and at that time of the day when there are two vehicles in the yard, we went under the assumption there may well be somebody in the home because there was nobody outside,” he added. “In addition, it was called in by a passer-by, not the homeowner.”
Chief McHale said when it is believed there may be someone inside a structure, the strategy changes immediately.
“We went to a very aggressive initial attack,” he explained. “Renfrew Fire is first response as per our agreement with them, so they had two firefighters on scene ready to go in.”
He said they could not enter without back-up, so once Douglas arrived, the two Renfrew firefighters entered with one hose line to combat the fire and conduct an initial search.
“Renfrew Fire, then, with the assistance of our guys near the door, found a casualty in the fire and brought that person out,” he said.
“Douglas Fire then did a second entry into the building as we had more firefighters on scene and they did a secondary search of the other bedrooms in the residence and the basement, and we did not find any other people inside the home.”
He said any call where there is a loss of life, seems to take a little time to sink in with members of the department.
“There’s always a family that goes through a whole lot more than the first responders do,” he shared.
He said all the firefighters gathered back at the hall on Thursday evening to debrief, noting each one handles situations like this differently.
“It’s one of those things where you’re going to think about it,” he remarked. “You’re going to think about it for a week, then you’re going to notice you didn’t think about it.
“Then you’re going to think about it for day,” he continued. “But after three weeks, if you’re still thinking about it every day, we have a problem.”
Chief McHale said every time a member of the department who was on scene drives by there over the next 40 to 50 years, they will think of that call.
“And that’s normal,” he said.
He credited the OFM for doing a “yeomen’s job” on the investigation, noting they didn’t wrap up the on-site investigation until around 4 p.m. Saturday.
“We had the lead, Tawnya Roberts on scene several times, and she is an unbelievable wealth of information,” he said. “The initial investigators arrived shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, were back on Friday at 8 a.m. through to 6 p.m., and again on Saturday from 8 – 4.
“And there were two other engineers from OFM there as well.”
Steve Buch Carpentry from Douglas was engaged to shore up some of the rafters to allow the inspectors to work in a safe environment.
“There’re all kinds of different hypotheses out there about what started the fire. They’ll nail it down to probably within 95 percent certainty.”
He does not expect an answer for several months, noting it is a criminal investigation, and it should be treated as such.
Chief McHale stressed that while the fire is deemed suspicious in nature, there is no threat to the public. He said a stepson of the deceased male lives in Calgary and a daughter resides in Texas.
It is believed the victim was about 67. Sixteen firefighters responded. Water was accessed from a hydrant in nearby Renfrew.