OTTAWA - Police are treating the ninth large fire in as many days as suspicious.
Fire officials confirmed reports that a Molotov cocktail, or a similar incendiary device, was hurled through the ground floor window of 235 Nepean St. just before midnight Saturday.
Tenants were quickly evacuated from the building — some wearing only pyjamas and bathrobes — and no one was injured in the blaze.
Patrons at neighbouring Beckta restaurant were also evacuated.
The building houses up to 20 women, mostly immigrants looking for temporary housing while they study or work in the city.
Arson investigators are still probing last Sunday’s blaze that broke out at the Cornerstone women’s shelter on nearby MacLaren St., which killed a 61-year-old woman.
Det. Perry Biddiscombe said police treat every fire as suspicious until the cause is determined, and said there is no evidence to link this fire to any other criminal activity.
Fire officials estimate the damage at $100,000.
Investigators spent Sunday morning sifting through the charred wreckage that spilled out onto the lawn of the building, which has operated as a rooming house since 2000.
Sniffer dogs were also scouring the property for any traces of an accelerant or a possible suspect.
Owner Bruce Mitchell, who arrived around noon to survey the damage and chat with residents, said he was “devastated.”
“I don’t feel very good about it,” Mitchell said.
The building contained 19 rooms for women and four kitchens.
Most of the women have been given accomodations at the Lord Elign Hotel, and the Salvation Army will step in to provide emergency shelter.
Several female residents arrived throughout the morning Sunday to survey the damage and collect what few possessions remained.
Rose Petit Frere, a foreign high school student staying at the rooming house, said she was in a second floor bedroom when she heard panicked voices coming from the main floor.
“Two guys started yelling ‘Get out, get out!” she said, still reeling from the trauma of the previous evening.
Yuka Urano, 32, a Japanese immigrant who had been living at the residence for two weeks, said she was “shocked” to learn of the apparently deliberate fire.
She had been out with freinds when she received a call from another resident, and rushed back to the Nepean St. building to find it ablaze, surrounded by fire trucks.
The initial emergency call was placed at 11:38 p.m. by a security guard at the Charlesfort condominium complex next door.
Firefighters responded shortly after with eight trucks and 32 personnel, and the blaze was brought under control within minutes.
Most of the damage was contained to a first floor room, apartment No. 6.
Police continue to investigate, and are expected to issue an update later Sunday.
aedan.helmer@sunmedia.ca
