Ontario home destroyed in 'suspicious' fire hours before tenant vacate order took effect

Andrew Lupton · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

For Trina Parnell of Victoria, quality a suspicious occurrence had ripped done a farmhouse northbound of Goderich, Ont., co-owned by her begetter was the latest successful what has been a agelong database of frustrations.

As the executor, Parnell has been moving with lawyers, her begetter and the children of her father's precocious member since 2023 to get immoderate property issues cleared up and determination guardant with selling the house, located conscionable disconnected of Highway 21 near the shores of Lake Huron.

The agelong process became much analyzable past October erstwhile a antheral named Keith Dietrich befriended her begetter and offered to go a tenant astatine the spot successful speech for doing work to hole up the place. 

"I got a telephone telephone from my father," said Parnell. "He seemed truly excited. He met this feline and helium wanted this feline to travel assistance him hole the spot up."

Parnell wasn't convinced it was a bully idea. She was 1 twelvemonth into the process of applying for the trusteeship and was disquieted a tenant connected the spot could go an impediment to the eventual sale. 

Parnell, however, said her father's hope was that it would let the location to get fixed up and perchance make immoderate gross arsenic a short-term rental before the trusteeship contented was solved and the merchantability could spell through. 

Dietrich sent Parnell a lease papers helium had prepared, but Parnell and her lawyer had questions. Her lawyer recommended immoderate lease person a abbreviated duration so it wouldn't get successful the mode of the sale. The lease Dietrich sent was for 1 year.

There were different issues with the projected lease. It mentioned a rental magnitude of $800 a month, but didn't specify however overmuch enactment would offset that amount. 

Still, Dietrich began surviving astatine the location "as a guest" with nary ineligible lease, Parnell said. Before immoderate of the lease issues could beryllium resolved, the statement began to fray. Parnell's begetter and Dietrich soon began to feud implicit a fistful of issues and Parnell's begetter said helium wanted Dietrich to leave.

'We ne'er gave him a key'

In mid-November, Parnell told Dietrich the statement wasn't moving and asked him to leave, which helium agreed to do, and helium departed connected Dec. 3. Seven days later, Parnell said, Dietrich was backmost connected the property, claiming to have the rights of a tenant. Parnell insists that because nary lease had been signed, Dietrich was fundamentally squatting there. 

"He ne'er gave a harm deposit, we ne'er gave him a key," said Parnell. 

CBC News reached retired to Dietrich for remark connected Monday and again connected Tuesday, but had not received a reply by clip of publication. 

Parnell called constabulary successful December, but said they refused to unit Dietrich to permission due to the fact that officers saw the concern arsenic a landlord and tenant dispute, which tin lone be resolved by Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board.

She sees her concern arsenic 1 that highlights flaws successful the laws: A nonaccomplishment to properly distinguish betwixt morganatic tenants and unlawful occupants who assertion to beryllium a tenant.

On her lawyer's advice, Parnell was capable find different mode to get Dietrich to permission the property. On March 28, Justice Leonard Ricchetti of the Superior Court of Justice granted a question that requires Dietrich to leave. 

The order, which CBC News has viewed, says Dietrich has nary close to the spot and ordered him to permission by 11:01 a.m. ET connected Friday, April 4. 

Building connected occurrence erstwhile crews arrived

But past a occurrence broke retired wrong the house. Thirteen hours earlier the deadline for Dietrich to leave, occurrence crews from adjacent communities of Ripley, Lucknow and Kincardine and the South Bruce OPP were called to the property. It was 10:16 p.m. connected Thursday, April 3. 

In a connection to CBC News, Huron-Kinloss occurrence Chief Jeff Bradley said they found the location "fully involved" successful flames. 

There were nary injuries and nary 1 has been charged, but constabulary accidental the occurrence was "suspicious."

Now, Parnell said, the occurrence is different occupation to woody with earlier the spot tin beryllium sold. 

"I'm frustrated that to get this antheral disconnected our spot it took 4 months and wrong those 4 months helium developed immoderate content that helium was entitled to unrecorded determination and entitled to assertion rights to it," said Parnell.  

The household is present looking astatine whether it's worthy the cost to cleanable up the spot "so that we tin merchantability a bully cleanable batch alternatively than thing that has a clump of junk and a burnt-down location connected it." 

Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal confirmed it is investigating the origin of the fire. Police are asking anyone with accusation to travel forward.