Police are investigating the fire at a former motel recently converted to residential housing in L’Orignal along County Road 17, between Longueuil Street and John Street.
Champlain Township firefighters along with crews from Alfred and Plantagenet Township, Hawkesbury and East Hawkesbury were called in to fight the fire, which started around 12:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, quickly spreading to the entire building and filling the area with smoke.
According to the Hawkesbury detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), all occupants were evacuated from the building without any injuries reported.
Three residents, huddled in their car down the road with two small dogs, said they lost all of their belongings in the fire and had nowhere else to go for the time being. They added the landlord did not offer them somewhere else to stay.
One resident said the fire started after the landlord flipped a breaker connected to one of the apartments in the nine-unit building.
Neither the OPP nor the fire department confirmed the cause of the fire as of 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5.
Police stated on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 6, that there is an active and ongoing investigation into the cause of the fire, requesting that anyone with information should contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222- 8477 (TIPS).
This story was updated from an earlier version to include the police investigation announced Saturday morning, Jan. 6.
