(Police say Gregoire home was gutted on the inside from Tuesday afternoon’s blaze. Bradley Karp/Afternoon Reporter.)
Police say the victim of a deadly blaze was a 25-year-old Fort McMurray man. Emergency crews responded to the call on Grandview Crescent around 1:25 p.m. yesterday. Firefighters put out the flames and found the man’s body inside the back bedroom. Wood Buffalo RCMP are still unsure if the fire killed the man.
“I’ve been asked if the man that died, if it was the result of the fire,” says Cpl. George Cameron. “That’s also still being investigated. His remains were sent to Edmonton for an autopsy.”
Cpl. Cameron says the home was totally gutted on the inside, but the structure is still standing. Police are speaking with two other men who lived with the victim and were not home at the time of the fire. They’re also trying to trace what happened minutes before the blaze by speaking with neighbours as well. Regional Emergency Services stopped it’s investigation at about 10 p.m. last night because of the cold temperatures. Deputy Chief Brad Grainger says they’re back on scene but still in the preliminary stages of the investigation.
“When you go by and see the scene, all of that trailer skirting has been taken off. So they’re underneath looking at that to see if there was, you know anything to do with anything suspicious, electrical, that kind of stuff,” says Grainger.
It took 29 minutes for firefighters to put out the flames yesterday afternoon. Crews determined it was a total loss.
“Trailers are like a cigar tube. So once the fire starts in one area there’s so much smoke and heat damage that, unless we can get there quickly, most trailers are a right off,” says Grainger.
No one else was injured during the incident and nearby homes were not damaged. First responders are conducting a joint investigation, but RCMP would not say why police are still involved.
“Any fire that we investigate is suspicious until we can rule otherwise. So we still don’t have enough information to say the cause at this time,” said Cpl. Cameron.
Police notified the man’s family members but they’re not releasing any more information about the victim.
