One person has died following a suspicious fire in Clam Bay, N.S., on Monday morning.
Nova Scotia RCMP say fire crews were called to the blaze just before 9 a.m. after receiving calls from neighbours seeing smoke.
Neighbour Eric Wright says he could see the black smoke from his deck more than a kilometre away.
“I was sick to my stomach, I’ll tell you that right now,” he says. “Seeing something like that, it’s not nice and that’s when I phoned 911.”
Wright says he immediately drove over to his neighbour’s house and by the time arrived the fire was fully involved.
Emergency crews found a garage on fire and flames spreading to the attached home.The fire was put out before it spread to the nearby woods.
After further investigation into the evening, human remains were found in the ashes of the house and the fire is now being treated as suspicious.
“The investigation is fairly fresh, so we’re working with Halifax Fire. We’re working with the office of the fire marshal and also the Medical Examiner Service of Nova Scotia to determine what happened and who the deceased person is,” says Nova Scotia RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke.
Police have not confirmed the gender or age of the body that was found. According to property records, Ronald and Francis Laura Baker are the owners of the home.
Police are now asking for the public’s help in their investigation.
“I know a lot of times, people think that things they might have seen, or heard, might be insignificant. But in a case like this,we're asking that they give us a call and report whatever information they have,” says Cpl. Clarke.
Officers and a forensic team remainedon scene Tuesday evening as part of the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact Halifax District RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Emily Baron Cadloff.
