Arson Suspected In Fire At Townhouse Construction Site

"An early-morning fire has destroyed a group of Mississauga townhouses near Burnhamthorpe Road East and Ponytrail Drive.

It is the third time in less than a week that a construction site in the west end has caught on fire.

Const. Wayne Patterson of Peel Regional Police told ctvtoronto.ca the townhouses were "fully engulfed in flames" when emergency crews were called to the scene at around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. It took about an hour to extinguish the blaze.

The townhouses were still under construction, Patterson said, and the fire damaged eight townhouse units. There are about 20 units in the complex.

He said the fire will be treated as suspicious until proven otherwise.

Mike Head, platoon chief with Mississauga Fire Emergency Services, told ctvtoronto.ca that the units were about 60 per cent complete.

"It's suspicious because the units were unoccupied and there was no hydro connected to the units so there was nothing to ignite the fire," he said Sunday afternoon.

An investigator with the Fire Marshal's Office agreed, telling reporters at the scene that "there's nothing in there accidentally that caused this fire.""

ORIGINAL SOURCE: CTV Toronto