Police, fire investigate rash of blazes

Regina police and fire officials are now investigating three suspicious house fires that occurred within five days on one street in North Central Regina.

The latest in the string of fires occurred on Thursday night. When fire crews arrived at 1043 Robinson St., flames were visible through the front window and there was smoke at the back of the small home, deputy fire chief Gerard Kay said in an interview Friday.

Kay said it is apparent the fire was intentionally set.

“There were reports of somebody going to the neighbour and saying, ‘My house is on fire! Can you phone 911?’ There was nobody there when we got there and the house itself was boarded up by the health department, so there shouldn’t have been anybody living there,” he said. “There were no furnishings, so I’m not sure if the person who knocked on the door is the person who set the fire or not.”

Thursday night’s fire occurred one block south of two other residential blazes on Robinson Street that firefighters responded to this week.

Kay said the damage wasn’t as great at 1043 Robinson St. as the fires at 900 Robinson St. on Sunday night and 969 Robinson St. on Monday night. Each of those dwellings sustained $200,000 in damages.

Earlier this week, the fires on Sunday and Monday nights were deemed suspicious by Regina Fire and Protective Services and handed over to the Regina Police Service (RPS) for further investigation.

Aside from the close proximity of the fires, the timing of the blazes is similar.

The fire call for 900 Robinson St., came in Sunday at exactly 8:06 p.m. The call for 969 Robinson St., was received Monday at 8:06 p.m. and Regina firefighters responded to 1043 Robinson St. at 9:06 p.m. on Thursday.

“There’s something that’s not right here,” Kay said.

So far, Regina police have not discovered any evidence that would indicate the three fires are connected.