One person escaped safely after a suspicious fire broke out in the basement of a home in Courtenay early Wednesday morning.
A media release from the Comox Valley RCMP called the fire at the 2000-block of Stewart Avenue in Courtenay is not believed to be accidental.
“The exact cause and the circumstances surrounding the fire are currently under investigation. Investigators from the Major Crime Unit are still gathering evidence in the area; however, have been able to determine that this fire was not the result of a random act,” the release states, before adding no further details will be made available at this time.
“The call came in at 1:25 in the morning,” said Courtenay Fire Department Chief Don Bardonnex.
“The fire damage was limited to a small part of the basement, but smoke damage went up through the building. At the time there was no visible flames on the outside, but smoke coming from pretty much every corner of the building, when we arrived.”
Bardonnex said 22 firefighters attended the scene, and took roughly 90 minutes to complete the call.
RCMP were canvassing the neighbourhood Wednesday morning.
“RCMP are looking into it at this time - they are going to be the lead agency on it,” said Deputy Fire Chief Kurt MacDonald. “It is suspicious at this time, which is why they were called.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at http://comoxvalleycrimestoppers.bc.ca/.