A man is dead after a house fire in Collingwood Saturday night.
And today, the Ontario Fire Marshal's office says after its initial investigation, it is considering the fire suspicious. They say something isn't adding up about the fire that happened along Fifth Street.
“It is apparent to us that we have two fires at this scene - one being in the vehicle and the other in the residence,” says investigator Bob Deasy with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office. He says this fire is suspicious.
“We have a deceased person in a house and a vehicle that's been burnt so yes we're going to go with suspicious for sure.”
The man was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries. The Ontario Fire Marshal was on scene all afternoon and says there were two fires.Dolf Jansen was one of the many people who ran outside to try to help their neighbour, who was stuck inside his burning home.
Witnesses say it all happened so fast. One minute a car was on fire and the next they saw flames shooting from the roof and the house was filled with smoke.
“I grabbed a piece of wood and threw it over the fence and they were able to break the window but at that point the house was totally engulfed by black smoke,” he says.
Michelle Dochylo adds, “I knew he was still in there because people were trying to get to him.”
The OPP won’t confirm the identity of the man who died inside the home, but neighbours say his name was Kevin Moreau. They say he lived in the home with his wife, who wasn't home at the time of the fire.
Neighbours say Moreau was the type of person you wanted living on your street. He was kind, helpful, kept his property in good shape.
“He was always out doing something, gardening, putting up awesome Christmas decorations,” Dochylo says. “He always waved and said hello.”
An autopsy will be performed tomorrow.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office will also be back on scene tomorrow continuing the investigation.
