‘Suspicious’ fire under investigation

A house fire in Stayner Tuesday is being investigated as suspicious.

Firefighters were called to 220 Springfield Cres., located in an east end subdivision, at 2:10 p.m.

It was the next-door neighbour Joel Pinsk who noticed the fire and called 911.

Pinsk said he normally works in Toronto but happened to be home Tuesday convalescing after a car accident when he went outside with his dogs and noticed the smoke.

Upon arrival a thick smoke could be seen billowing from the roofline of the house.

Fire Chief Scott Davison said he was able to get the lone occupant out of the house when he arrived on scene.

Davison said there was zero visibility inside the home as firefighters worked to control the fire which was contained mainly to the home’s contents, causing the thick smoke.

At one point Collingwood firefighters used their aerial truck to inspect the roof to see if the fire had breached the structure, which it had not.

The occupant identified by neighbours only as G was transported to hospital. Pinsk said there is a concern that he had harmed himself and set the fire, putting the neighbouring homes in the dense subdivision at risk.