It’s too soon to tell whether the latest fire in Six Nations territory is connected to any of the 17 suspicious fires set there so far this year – but the reserve’s fire chief says there’s a good chance that’s the case.
“Considering we’re only about 800 feet away from two of the other fires, yeah, there is,” Matthew Miller said Wednesday.
Prior to Wednesday morning, the tally of arsons on the reserve in 2015 stood at 17.
Around 6:30 a.m., firefighters were called to Seneca Road, west of Ohsweken, to battle a house fire.
When they arrived at the scene, a woman told them that a man had gone back into the burning building, and had not returned.
Although investigators sifted through rubble until sunset, the man had not been located either in the home or elsewhere in the community by Wednesday evening.
The woman had also left the property, and had not been seen since.
The fire appeared to have started near the back door of the building. That part of the house and a vehicle parked nearby were both heavily damaged – to the point where firefighters had to find an alternative route into the building.
“Due to the heavy flame and smoke … firefighters weren’t able to gain entry through there. They actually had to gain entry through the basement window,” Miller said.
Firefighters allegedly found drug paraphernalia and items believed to be stolen inside the home after extinguishing the fire.
Wednesday’s fire is the fifth on Seneca Road in the past 12 months.
