“Too bad (the house) didn’t burn to the ground,” said Cormier, who lives across the street from the house on 6 McWhirters Lane.
Having the house gone would save a lot of headaches for Cormier and her husband, Keith. The couple have been outspoken about the neighbouring property, where over 200 cats were retrieved in May.
The Cormiers want to see the property cleaned up, expecially the house, as they believe it is a health threat, based on the number of cats that were living there.
“Obviously the site needs to be cleaned,” Mr. Cormier said, looking over at the charred house from his deck. “You can’t leave a half burnt-out house.”
RNC fire investigators and the forensic identification section conducted an investigation into the matter throughout Thursday. As a result of this fire investigation, police say the fire has been classified as accidental in nature.
Cormier has been asking the city and provincial government to address the property for the past three months, but have not gotten much information or movement from either party.
A shed on the property was removed in June, which had several garbage bags containing used cat litter.
The Cormiers said their trouble with the property has not stopped since the cats were rescued and the shed was torn down. Now they are battling with black flies swarming their back deck.
On Tuesday, the Cormiers went to put fly paper around the property in efforts to prevent the flies from coming towards their house. They saw a broken window at the house then and reported it to the RNC.
Const. Beverly Bursey of the RNC said it was not known if the broken window was related to the fire.
Corner Brook city Coun. Leo Bruce said the city stands where it did before the fire happened. When Bruce last spoke with The Western Star, he said the city is waiting on Service Newfoundland and Labrador to access the situation, and that there are no new details.
Corner Brook’s deputy fire chief Bill Griffin was on the scene assisting the RNC with the fire investigation Thursday. He said once the RNC completes its investigation, the property falls back into the hands of the homeowner.
Although the blaze caused extensive fire and smoke damage, no one was injured.
The house has reportedly been vacant for approximately three months.
mphilpott@thewesternstar.com
Twitter: WS_Meaghan
