Another one bites the dust

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

For the second time in January a property on Lewis Avenue was destroyed by fire.

Firefighters were called to 16 Lewis Ave. in the early hours of on Friday morning, Jan. 29, where the building was on fire. It didn’t take long for the building to be destroyed.

Cpl. Paul Pittman of the Yarmouth RCMP town detachment said the investigation of the matter was hampered by poor weather conditions as well as the unsafe state of the building. The fire caused the sides of the building to melt and much of the roof and second storey to collapse on itself.

Pittman said the fire marshal would be investigating the matter as well as the RCMP’s arson investigator. Pittman said they had several leads on the matter.

The fire was the second to hit Lewis Avenue in January. A building at 10 Lewis Ave., a property that came to symbolize the town’s housing crisis last spring, was destroyed by fire in the wee hours of New Year’s Day. A third fire on the same block happened last spring when the property at 47 Argyle St. was destroyed. That incident was ruled arson.

Although Pittman wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the two fires on Lewis Avenue being connected, he added that they have no evidence at this point to suggest a connection. “I think we have to look at the possibility of it being more than an isolated incident,” he said, adding that the number of abandoned buildings in town is a tempting target. “It’s just like putting a nice shiny bicycle in front of someone who steals a lot.”

Although there was no one living in the building at the time, Pittman said the building was being renovated for the purpose of being rented. Anyone with information on the matter is asked to contact the RCMP or crime stoppers.