Fire at abandoned house officially deemed as suspicious by fire chief

A fire at an abandoned house outside of Shelburne last week has been deemed suspicious and an investigation is underway. 

Fire crews from four local departments – Shelburne, Orangeville, Rosemont, and Melanchthon/Mulmur – responded to a large fire at an abandoned house at the intersection of Hwy. 89 and Hwy. 10 on afternoon of May 12. 

When fire crews arrived flames and smoke could be seen coming out of the upper levels of the structure. Crews did not enter the house, due to safety concerns and battled the fire from the outside. 

No injuries were reported. 

At the scene, Shelburne Fire Chief Ralph Snyder told the Free Press that the fire appeared to be suspicious due to the fact there was no power or ignition source to the house. 

An investigation has since been underway from the local fire department and Dufferin OPP. 

Snyder said that due to the damage of the house, there was little evidence other than that it was suspicious. 

“There was no utilities in the building, no evidence of ignition sequence on the exterior of the building, so the fire spread to the outside from the interior,” he noted. “We couldn't get much in the way of interior fire patterns because it was destroyed, but there was some evidence of wind driven fire inside. We couldn't determine room of origin or area of origin because we couldn't get in. We couldn't determine an exact ignition source.”

Dufferin OPP are now asking anyone that may have information about “suspected unlawful activity” to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or visit Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous at 1-800-822-8477 (TIPS) or www.crimestopperssdm.com.