St. Thomas police and the fire department are investigating an early morning fire on St. Catharine Street.
“Shortly after 6 a.m., we got a 911 call that there was a house fire here,” said Kim Destun, chief fire prevention officer for the St. Thomas Fire Department. “When crews arrived, there was flames coming out the back window on the second story. Crews responded in to knock it down fairly quickly. We had to do a full call back to bring in off-duty personnel for extra hands.”
This two-unit residence has been a problem for police, fire, and neighbours over the past year.
On Feb. 19, 2025, police raided the residence resulting in 11 people being arrested and the seizure of a weapon. While searching, police found a loaded sawed off shot gun.
Charges included unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm or ammunition, careless storage of a firearm and possession of a schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking.
CTV spoke with a number of neighbours Saturday morning, but none wanted to appear on camera out of fear of repercussions from people who live there.
They all said they are glad there were no injuries, but hope that the home will be unliveable going forward to prevent the nefarious activity at the residence from continuing.
Police are on scene Saturday morning.
“Police are still on scene investigating, and it is deemed suspicious at this time,” said Sgt. Jacob Beaton of the St. Thomas Police Service. “It’s believed to have occurred in the upper unit. It is vacant and there are no injuries as the lower tenants were able to evacuate.”
Beaton said police will be going door-to-door for follow up.
The property manager on scene told CTV News that they have been trying to evict the tenants for quite some time as they have not paid rent. However, they have not been successful.
“This is a house that we’ve had serious concerns over in the past,” said Destun. “Fire prevention has been working very closely with the owner over the past couple of weeks to deal with this residence.”
She added the upstairs unit is “gone” but the downstairs unit is “pretty good.” It is believed most of the belongings will be able to be salvaged.
Police are asking residents if you have any video cameras or any witnesses, please contact police or Crime Stoppers.