Cape Breton Regional Police are investigating after fire consumed a house outside Sydney early Monday morning, killing one person.
Neighbours say two people in their 40s lived in the house on Lingan Road, but only one body has been found.
At this point, as investigators work to determine their identity and cause of death, even the gender of the person is unknown.
Four separate fire departments helped fight the blaze that ripped through the house, including the South Bar Volunteer Fire Department and Cape Breton Regional Fire Services, who were called to the scene around 3:15 a.m. Monday morning.
Chris March, deputy chief of CBRM fire services, said the house fire was fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene.
“There was some talk of someone inside but at that point no department would try to make entry,” March said.
“You wouldn’t put firefighters in harm’s way at that point,” he said.
Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly three hours, relying on pump trucks to transport water to the scene because there are no hydrants in the area.
A forensics team was on the scene Monday morning, working with the fire marshal’s office to determine what started the fire.
Officials are releasing few details for now about how the fire started or who was inside.
Desiree Vassallo, spokeswoman for the Cape Breton Regional Police, said investigators are still working to determine the deceased person’s identity and the cause of their death.
After the fire, only a portion of the home was still standing.
Neighbours say the residents had been renting the property for about a year.
“They’re nice people. I don’t really know them at all that well. They kind of keep to themselves,” said local resident Valarie Gautier.
“It’s devastating. I’ve lived here for about 42 years and it’s just devastating,” she said.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore
