POLICE SILENCE ON BOAT RENTAL FIRE IN GRAVENHURST SPARKS SPECULATION OF ARSON

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Two days after a fire tore through a boat rental business here, police and fire officials continue to probe and try to determine the cause.

No official cause has yet been determined for Wednesday’s 4 a.m. blaze, which gutted the two-storey building on the shore of Lake Muskoka.

The OPP, which is leading the investigation, had still not made any comment on the fire late Friday afternoon, prompting public speculation that arson may be involved in the case.

Hours after it started local fire officials called it “suspicious.”

But two Ontario Fire Marshal investigators, who arrived yesterday, were on the scene all day probing the charred remains of Muskoka Boat Rentals a business that rented pontoon boats to tourists.

A phone call to the number of the business at 165 Steamship Bay Rd. says the line is no longer in service. It is operated by Boat Rentals Canada. Further attempts to reach someone there were unsuccessful today.

Police have still not commented on the “suspicious” blaze as reported by the Gravenhurst Fire Department.

A provincial police detective and uniformed officers were also on scene and taking photos of the damage.

Police said late this afternoon in a release that they are now investigating the fire as “arson.”

OFM investigator Tim Rochette leaves the gutted business through the front door of the charred building yesterday as Elexicon hydro workers work on a panel box, left.
The Gravenhurst Fire Department returned with their aerial ladder Thursday to assist the two OFM investigators with its investigation.
A joint investigation with the OPP and the OFM lasted all day Thursday as the building remained cordoned off.
The ‘boat & seadoo rentals’ operation has been in business in Gravenhuurst since before the pandemic. It is owned by Boat Rentals Canada.
After Gravenhurst firefighters first determined it was a “suspicious” fire, police and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office began their own investigations.
OFM investigators Mike Bird, left, and lead investigator Tim Rochette spent the day combing through the debris looking for answers to how the fire suddenly started overnight Wednesday.
Provincial fie officials arrived Thursday morning to begin their investigation.
The privately-owned building was left standing, but was gutted top and bottom early Wednesday.

See our story first reported here yesterday. 

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