Six people were able to escape safely from a "potentially suspicious" overnight fire affecting two townhouses on Christa Street in Hanmer.
Greater Sudbury Fire Services Deputy Fire Chief Jesse Oshell said the cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal’s office and Greater Sudbury Police Service. Oshell said the fire is believed to be "potentially suspicious."
Oshell said calls to emergency services came in at around 12:45 a.m.
“When our crews arrived on scene, two of the townhomes had fire occurring,” he said. “The fire from the deck had spread to the roof and basement of one townhome. That led to the adjacent connecting townhome catching on fire as well.”
Fortunately, the family of four occupying one unit and the family of two occupying the other were able to escape safely. There were no injuries.
“Our indication at this time is they had working smoke alarms and CO detectors,” said Oshell, adding that both families were displaced by the fire, and the fire department put them in touch with the Red Cross for temporary accommodation.
Firefighters were on scene “very heavily” until about 5 a.m., and as of around 8 a.m., there was still one crew on scene just to ensure all of the hotspots were dealt with.
Oshell estimates the damage at around $250,000.