Police are asking for the public’s assistance with the ongoing investigation into the early morning house fire on Allenby Road in Duncan on Sept. 16.
A police statement asks anyone who may have been driving with a dash camera in the industrial area near Polkey Road and Allenby Road between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 16, or has information that may assist with the investigation, to please contact the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522 and refer to police file number 2019-16609.
To provide information anonymously, contact Cowichan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Officers from the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment called the Duncan fire department shortly after 7 a.m. that morning to report the fire.
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The police officers were in the area on another call when they observed flames inside the residence.
The two officers ran to the house and forced the doors open in attempts to locate anyone inside.
In this short time frame, the house became fully engulfed with smoke making it extremely dangerous for anyone to enter.
The Duncan fire department arrived on scene and began to fight the blaze.
Officers were able to confirm that the lone resident of the house was safe and not at the location at the time of the fire.
Once the fire was fully extinguished and the house was deemed safe to enter, a fire investigator with the City of Duncan returned to the scene with a member of the RCMP’s North Cowichan/Duncan general investigations section to examine the home.
Together, members from the detachment and the city are in the early stages of the investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
Duncan Fire Chief Mike McKinlay said on Sept. 19 that it had been determined that the fire started in the kitchen area.