P.E.I. fire marshal unable to determine cause of fatal Cavendish cottage fire

P.E.I.'s fire marshal was unable to determine the cause of a fatal cottage fire July 14 in Cavendish, but says there are no signs the blaze was criminal in nature.

First responders were called to Green Gables Bungalow Court Cottages on Route 6 just before 6 a.m. that Sunday to find one of the rental units engulfed in flames.

The fire killed 20-year-old Noah Latimer of Nova Scotia. He was visiting the Island with three friends, and staying in Cavendish when the fire happened. 

Those three friends escaped the cottage and were sent to hospital with serious injuries. 

John Chisholm, a deputy fire marshal with the province, said determining what started the blaze was difficult because of the level of destruction. 

"When you have a fire that burns for a certain amount of time at a certain level of heat, it burns all the combustible materials in an area to a level of ash or material that is completely burnt," Chisholm said. 

"It leaves very little to review to find what combinations may have come together for that fire to grow." 

He said the investigation yielded no signs of an accelerant or criminality.

Chisholm said people staying in any rental accommodation should be aware of primary and secondary exits and where extinguishers are located in the event of a fire. 

They should also ensure the unit has a working smoke detector, which is required by law for rental accommodations in P.E.I.

Chisholm said in this case the cottage appeared to have a working smoke alarm. 

"There was a working fire detector found in the neighbouring cottages, however the fire had burnt very completely in the unit that we were investigating," he said. 

"We found what appeared to be a smoke detector, we had some audible noises from [it], and can assume from that that it was the smoke detector that was in that unit."