FATAL FIRST STREET FIRE LAST AUG. 31 ‘ACCIDENTAL’ CONCLUDE OPP, FIRE MARSHAL

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Ten months after a woman here died in an overnight fire on First Street police and fire officials say they’ve concluded their investigations and have determined the cause of her death to be “accidental” an “non-criminal.”

A provincial police news release Thursday says the two provincial services have determined the cause originated in the front porch area.

The release did not go in to more detail as to how the blaze began or what caused it.

Bracebridge OPP detachment Insp. Jason Nickle says: “I can now advise that the investigation into that fatal fire is complete and has been cleared as ‘non-criminal’ in nature.

“There will be no further action taken as a result.”

On Aug. 31, 2021, just after 2:30 a.m., police, firefighters and paramedics responded to a structure fire at a multi-unit complex on First Street South in Gravenhurst.

Fifty-year-old Erica Curtis-Nickason, of Gravenhurst, died as a result of the fire.

The Bracebridge OPP Crime Unit investigation, under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) and with assistance from the Office of the Fire Marshal, determined the cause of the fire.

Distraught family members and neighbours of the victim claimed, that day, that the blaze was arson.

Anyone with further information regarding this or any other investigation is asked to call Bracebridge OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Police and fire investigators began their investigation Aug. 31, 2021, and have concluded the fatal fire was accidental.
A police release today said investigators determined the blaze began on the porch area before spreading upstairs to where the woman and her family lived. They say no criminal charges will be laid.
Erica Curtis-Nickason, 50, died, Aug. 31 in a multiplex apartment fire in downtown Gravenhurst.
Emergency services were still on First Street the following day removing the body and conducting an investigation that lasted almost 10 months.
The house on First Street was eventually torn down and the lot remains empty.

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