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Suspicious fires probed by cops, fire officials

St. Clair Ave. blaze latest to hit downtown

Posted 30 minutes ago

The latest suspicious fire in downtown Niagara Falls to be set on a porch or back stairway isn'tyet evidence of a serial firebug in the city, but police and fire officials are not ruling out thatpossibility after a St. Clair Ave. house was torched Saturday.

"We definitely are not closed to that possibility, but at this point there's nothing to suggest thatthat's the case," Niagara Regional Police Staff Sgt. Shawn Clarkson said.

The $50,000 blaze that damaged the two-storey house at 5043 St. Clair Ave. in the Falls at about10:45 p.m. Saturday is suspected to have been deliberately set on a back stairway, Clarkson said.

The only person home at the time, a female tenant who lives on the lower floors of the house,was alerted to the fire by a motorist who saw the flames, Clarkson said.

The tenant, who was sleeping at the time, escaped unharmed.

The fire began on the back staircase and spread up to the upper floors of the house, destroyingthe attic.

The fire was the second in a week in the downtown area, the second on that corner in the pastyear, and the latest in a spate of similar fires across the city in recent months.

Last Tuesday, a house said to be frequented by transients and drug users at 5305 Victoria Ave.went up in flames. Police and fire officials are still investigating the cause of that fire and couldn'tspeak to the cause Monday.

On Aug. 18, 2010, a neighbouring house at 5319 Victoria Ave. was gutted by a fire intentionallyset on the front porch.

The house at 4493 Jepson St., which sits right beside the St. Clair Ave. house, was still boarded

up Monday after a $50,000 blaze there on July 8, 2010.

Niagara Falls Fire Deputy Chief Jim Jessop couldn't say what the cause of the Jepson St. firewas.

However, neighbours said they believed that fire to be an arson as well.

Police said they haven't seen any evidence yet to lend credence to the theory that they're may bea serial arsonist at work.

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"We can't make the connection right away," Clarkson said. "We're investigating the possibility of suspects on the St. Clair one and we're still in the middle of that, so to make a connection …would be a little bit premature."

Jessop said there is "absolutely no evidence" of a serial arsonist and reminded the public to take

the appropriate fire-safety precautions.

"The message to the public is always to ensure that every house has a fire escape and to practisea fire evacuation plan and working smoking alarms on every floor," Jessop said.

bclarkson@nfreview.com

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