"Suspicious" is how Ottawa fire officials describe a blaze that destroyed a home in the Village of Metcalfe Saturday night.
Flames ripped through a bungalow at 2517 Scrivens Dr. around 9 p.m., leaving three people homeless. It took firefighters more than an hour to get under control.
Officials estimate it caused $500,000 in damage. Orange and red flames lit up the quiet residential road.
"We were watching television in the living room and my husband noticed a flickering – a red light flickering – and he pulled across, opened the blinds and said ‘oh the house across the road is on fire,'" one neighbour told CTV Ottawa's Claudia Cautillo.
When crews arrived the home was fully engulfed by flames. And officials say it may not have been by accident.
"There were some reports that a vehicle was seen leaving shortly before the fire, so we're working to determine who that may be and what involvement they have in the fire," said Sgt. David Christie with Ottawa Fire Services.
The owner, Samer Mehanna, told CTV he lived there with his mother and a friend. Mehanna says he was out of town when it happened.
This is the latest in a string of suspicious fires in Ottawa this year. Earlier this fall, police determined arson was to blame for the destruction of two unoccupied homes in Stittsville.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Claudia Cautillo
