Police probe suspicious fire at boarded-up property
Windsor police are reminding the community to be vigilant after a series of suspicious fires at vacant properties in the west end, including an empty commercial building on Monday night.
A fire was discovered around 7:50 p.m. at 1950 Continental Ave. — a former transport company truck bay that has fallen into disuse.
According to Windsor Fire and Rescue Services, firefighters arrived to find flames on the second storey of the office portion of the boarded-up structure.
It took about two hours to completely extinguish the fire and clear the building of hot spots.
No one was hurt. An estimate on the dollar value of the damage was not available at press time.
Windsor police said patrol officers investigated fires at two other vacant properties in the west end on July 29: one at 4:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Indian Road, the other at 6 p.m. in the 800 block of Felix Avenue.
All three incidents are being treated as suspicious.
In a statement, Windsor police pointed to “the inherent dangers associated with setting a fire in or around a vacant building.”
“A fire can spread and get out of control in an extremely short period of time, placing the lives of neighbours and emergency responders in danger.”
Police ask anyone who notices someone acting suspiciously or trespassing on a property to call them at 519-258-6111.
Anyone with information about the three recent west-end fires is encouraged to call arson investigators at 519-255-6700, ext. 4330.