Police have charged a resident of the building housing Lindsays Irish House with setting the fire that destroyed it on Friday.
Kawartha Lakes Police say Ronald Rich, 60, was arrested late Friday night after officers interviewed several witnesses.
He is charged with arson endangering life, arson causing damage to property, mischief over $5,000 and breach of probation. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday (Sept. 22.)
The seven-alarm blaze broke out about 11 a.m. in two places in the historic William Street tavern, which also contained 17 apartments on the upper floors of the building.
All of the units except one were occupied, but everyone got out safely, fire officials say.
The scene was chaotic as traffic snarled and pedestrians scrambled to find spots to watch more than 70 firefighters battle the blaze.
Police shut down William Street south of Kent Street West to allow fire crews to work. William Street remained closed on Saturday until the Ontario Fire Marshal arrived to investigate.
Hundreds of onlookers, including several residents of the building, stood behind yellow police tape watching as flames shot from the windows on the third floor of the building.
Third-floor resident Bob Ploeger said that at first he thought it was a false alarm.
The alarm went on, but then it went off, so I went back to bed, But then the smoke was coming through the floor - so I grabbed what I could and got out of there, he said.
He managed to grab his insulin, but lost everything else he owns. However, given the circumstances, he said he was lucky to get out of the burning building before it got much worse.
The flames were high and the smoke was so thick you couldnt see, explained Mr. Ploeger.
Fellow tenant Jeff Kelly described the scene inside the building and said he witnessed two separate fires, one on the second floor and another in the laundry room located on the third floor, which he thought about extinguishing himself.
I tried to [put out the laundry room fire], but I couldnt ... The smoke almost knocked me down the stairs, Mr. Kelly said.
I guess were all out of a home for a while, he said with a shrug.
Several of the tenants told This Week they suspected the fires had been deliberately set.
Two fires in different places dont just start at the same time, Mr. Kelly said.
Other tenants had more immediate concerns. Both Ron Holder and Bill Graham were without their bronchial medication, including puffers after the fire, and worried about having an asthma attack before they were replaced.
Another resident who did not provide his name was asking about a cat and two kittens that were left behind in the confusion. The Kawartha Lakes Humane Society also responded with animal carriers to care for those animals rescued from the blazing building.
Officials brought in the Victoria County Disaster Relief team to assist the tenants.
Fire chief Dave Guilbault said at the scene the balloon construction in older buildings means a fire can quickly get out of control.
Once its in the walls, thats it; you cant save it, he said.
The fire was so intense that, at times, smoke hid firefighters and trucks from view as it billowed across the street.
Two buildings near the Irish House were evacuated as a precaution, and Kent Street remained closed between William and Cambridge streets for several hours.
Fire officials said the fire caused about $500,000 in damage.
Fire captain Fred Elder said on Monday the firefighters did a superb job of knocking down the first fire, actually going inside the building.
They knew there were two fires going in, he said.
But, as firefighters reached the third floor, they realized the second fire was already burning in the walls and spreading. Two firefighters fell through a hole in the floor, but managed to pull each other to safety and were not hurt, the captain said.
He said Assistant Fire Chief Ron Raymer, the incident commander, decided to pull the firefighters out, concentrating on preventing the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings.
I was the fourth person on scene, and I saw smoke coming through the bricks at the back of the building where it meets the roof, Capt. Elder said. With a fire like this, unless you catch it or get ahead of it, all you can do is play chase.
He said the Fire Marshal was at the scene on Saturday for an investigation, and credited working smoke alarms with alerting the tenants in time for them to escape.
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