The Thunder Bay Police Service is requesting public assistance in the ongoing investigation of a case of arson.
Officers from the service’s Uniform Patrol Branch were originally dispatched to reports of a house fire in the 700 block of McLaughlin Street just after 10 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31.
A family was trapped inside the home during the blaze, but was safely removed from the residence by members of the Thunder Bay Fire Rescue. Once safely outside the home the family was attended to by paramedics with the Superior North EMS.
The fire, which appears to have started outside at the back of the residence, caused significant damage to a McLaughlin Street home and also damaged an adjacent home in the 400 block of Connolly Street.
An ongoing investigation revealed the fire was likely the result of arson. Members of the TBPS’s Major Crime Unit are now investigating the circumstances surrounding this fire.
Police are asking the public for any information that may assist investigators. Specifically, police are looking for witnesses who may have noticed suspicious activity in the area of McLaughlin Street near Connolly Street on the evening of the fire.
Anyone with surveillance footage in this area around the time of the incident is also urged to come forward and speak with investigators.
Contact police at 684-1200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, online at www.p3tips.com.