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House fire regarded as ‘suspicious’

An early morning fire at a residence on Rhodonite Drive completely destroyed a home and it is being regarded as “suspicious.”
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An early morning fire completely destroyed a home on Rhodonite Drive.

An early morning fire at a residence on Rhodonite Drive completely destroyed a home and it is being regarded as “suspicious.”

Sooke Fire Rescue was called out at 2:23 a.m. and when they arrived at 6768 Rhodonite, the house was fully engulfed in flames.

“The fire was blowing out the roof,” said Sooke Fire Chief Steve Sorensen. “We evacuated the houses on either side.”

He went on to say that the roof collapsed within five minutes of the fire trucks arriving on the scene and Sorensen said it “went bad from there.”

At 8 a.m. on Friday firefighters were still on the scene securing it because, “a few things don’t add up,” according to the chief. “Arson is not ruled out at this point,” he said.

The homes on either side were not damaged by the fire, except for one which had the windows crack due to the extreme heat of the fire. To control the blaze the firefighters poured 2,500 gallons a minute on the house in an attempt to put the fire out.

“We couldn’t get it under control,” said Sorensen. “If they had one sprinkler head in there, it may have saved it.”

The Otter Point Fire Department helped out and there were upwards of 25 firefighters on the scene. Sorensen said they used them all. They also used the ladder truck very effectively and it was noted that it was a necessary piece of equipment for fires such as this one.

It is estimated that the home was valued at about $450,000 and was on the market.  There was no one in the home at the time of the fire. The owner is in the military serving in Halifax.