Hours before a suspicious fire destroyed a home in the 4100-block of Carey Road, Saanich police were called to the house in response to a reported dispute between a landlord and tenant.
Landlord Marlisa Martin said the tenants had been evicted after months of unpaid rent and over concerns the property had become a drug house. She was about to serve an order of possession.
As of Wednesday night, the tenant had moved out, but Martin called police about 10 p.m. after she was told someone was in the house and the lights were on. Martin brought the keys to the house and Saanich police did a sweep, but no one was found. Police were called a second time at 11:30 p.m. when someone saw the lights on again, but police did not return to the scene, saying it was a tenancy issue, Martin said.
Two and a half hours later, at 12:30 a.m. Thursday, multiple neighbours called 911 to report flames shooting through the roof of the bungalow, which backs onto Panama Flats.
The fire has been deemed suspicious while detectives and Saanich Fire investigators look at all the evidence, said Saanich police spokesman Const. Markus Anastasiades. He said it’s too early to determine if there is any connection between the blaze and the landlord-tenant dispute. No one was inside at the time of the fire.
Martin is frustrated police did not check the house the second time she called.
“Had the police followed up and checked to see who was in the house the whole thing may have been avoided,” she said.
Saanich Fire Department deputy fire chief Frank Macdonald said 19 firefighters were at the scene and tackled the blaze from the outside, as it was too dangerous to enter the structure.
“It ended up being a challenging fire to contain,” he said, as hot spots flared up throughout the early-morning hours. Carey Road near Warren Avenue was closed for hours as firefighters responded.
The fire was out by 4 a.m., but some firefighters remained at the scene until 8 a.m. to monitor any flareups. The extent of the damage will make it difficult to determine where the fire started, Macdonald said.
Saanich fire investigators and Saanich police were at the scene Thursday morning collecting evidence. The roof of the older white stucco home with dark brown shutters had collapsed and the inside was a blackened shell.
Martin said the tenant had not been paying rent months before the B.C. government implemented a moratorium on evictions due to the COVID-10 pandemic. She was also concerned that the home had become a mess with drug paraphernalia and junk everywhere. The tenant, who was paying $1,500 a month, had also allowed a new person to move in without Martin’s permission.
Martin and her brother purchased the property in July 2019 with the intent to subdivide it and build their “forever homes.” They still have not submitted an application to subdivide.
Martin is in the process of finding out if the damage is covered by insurance, but she said she’s been told the insurance does not cover tenant vandalism.
