Double-vehicle fire in Fort Erie driveway ‘suspicious’: fire chief

The Fort Erie Fire Department responded around 3:45 a.m. Thursday to a fire Niagara Regional Police are now investigating after it burned the engines of two cars in a Keel Street driveway.

Niagara Regional Police told Fort Erie Radio they are treating the fire as suspicious, but investigators have not yet determined its cause in what they called the early stages of the investigation.

Detectives said they had received no reports of similar incidents and did not believe the fire posed a risk to public safety.

Fort Erie Fire Chief Mark Schmitt said he considered the fire suspicious because both cars suffered comparable damage.

“If it was accidental and started in one car, it would be hard for that same amount [of damage] to be in the car next to it,” said Schmitt.

Crews found fire in the engine compartments of both cars, but the flames had not reached either passenger compartment.

The residents of the home were in bed when they heard a noise that alerted them to the fire. Schmitt said he believed the noise the residents heard got firefighters the call fairly quickly.

Firefighters put out both fires quickly without any injuries.

The fire damaged no property beyond the two cars, which were parked toward the road end of a short driveway away from the house.

Fort Erie detectives with Niagara Regional Police are asking anyone with information, security video or dashcam footage from the Keel Street area around the time of the fire to call (905) 871-2300.

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