RCMP investigating blaze that destroyed vacant property

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The RCMP are investigating a blaze that destroyed a vacant property at 10 Lewis Ave. in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. Firefighters responded to the call around 4 a.m. on Jan. 1. The fire left the property in a heap of charred rubble.

While the police say the fire is suspicious, they weren’t prepared Monday afternoon to conclude it was a case of arson. “It appears to be at this time but we aren’t 100 per cent sure,” Corporal Paul Pittman of the RCMP town detachment said late Monday afternoon. He did say an arson investigator with the RCMP was probing the fire and preparing a report. “The fire is deemed suspicious and it could turn into an arson investigation,” he said, adding the police are also focusing their attention on a suspect vehicle that was seen in the area.

Cpl. Pittman said they’ve taken statements from neighbours and others. “We are following up on a couple of leads. There’s a vehicle that was seen in the area and we’re currently following up on that lead,” he said, saying they were still trying to pinpoint a more accurate description of the vehicle before turning to the public for help.

The property at 10 Lewis Ave. had become a symbol in the news of a housing crisis that had hit Yarmouth County over the past year as it was revealed it was one of many properties that had carried a mortgage in the hundreds of thousands of dollars – which far exceeded the property’s value. At one point in 2008 when the property's mortgaged was reassigned, it was listed at $399,158.

Although a vacant property, Cpl. Pittman said it is the RCMP’s understanding that there still may have been power connected to the building.

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