Vacant Moncton home damaged by fire; 5th fire in city in the last 9 days

Another fire has caused significant damage to a home in Moncton, N.B.

The most recent fire happened on Melville Street around 9 p.m. Tuesday, about a block away from a home that was on fire on Waverley Avenue Tuesday morning.

There have been five structure fires in the city in the last nine days.

Once on scene Tuesday night, emergency crews found part of the home engulfed in fire.

The Moncton Fire Department says the home was vacant, partially boarded up, and did not have any power.

No one was inside when crews arrived and no injuries have been reported.

However, Moncton Fire Platoon Chief Keith Guptill says it’s possible there were homeless people inside the house when the fire started.

“There were neighbours that stated they had seen a couple of individuals coming and going that had shopping carts and were leaving them outside and going in that home,” said Guptill.

“Which, of course, was our first concern when we went to the fire, was to make sure none of them were actually in there at the time, and there was no one in there at the time.”

Investigators believe the fire started in the garage, before spreading and causing significant damage to the home.

Crews were on scene for about three hours.

Guptill admits five fires in a little more than a week is a lot, but it does happen in the winter when temperatures drop and people are trying to heat their homes.

Moncton Fire and Codiac RCMP are investigating the cause of the fire.