House fire on Six Nations reserve is being treated as arson

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A house fire on the Six Nations reserve is being treated as the latest in a series of arsons, but in this case, fire officials fear someone didn’t make it out alive.

The charred remains of a house with a number of unanswered questions. “Based on the area we’re in right now, it is highly suspicious.” said Chief Miller.

Six Nations fire chief Matthew Miller says that a man and a woman were inside when the fire started just after 6 this morning. Both got out, but the man, believed to be in his mid thirties, went back in.

“At this point until we can confirm that they are not inside the structure we are going under the assumption that they are still inside.”

The flames ripped through the back and caused a large section of the roof collapse. It limited access to some areas of the house, and there are also 4 bedrooms in the basement, but no word if they have all been checked.

But Chief Miller says that the man did escape but did not stick around. That’s because this house is known to police and they found a lot of paraphernalia inside.

The woman who was also there and did get out, has since disappeared. It’s not known what started the fire but Miller is treating this as an arson. Not because of the evidence, but because of recent history.

“We’ve had so many suspected arsons within 1000 feet of each other that we can’t help but treat it that way at this point.”

5 fires in the past 6 months on this street alone. Some confirmed to be arson, like the one from the summer just a kilometer away.

“We had that fire about 2 months ago, then we had 3 other structure fires about 1000 to 1500 feet that also went up in the last 6 months.”

In all there have been 18 suspicious fires on the reserve over the past year. The Ontario fire marshalls is assisting in the investigation.

The fire department is still trying to confirm exactly who owns the home, but they said that the house is known for various illegal activities.