Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that reduced a southern Ontario farmhouse containing what appeared to be a dungeon to rubble and ash.
The abandoned farmhouse on Concession Road in northwest Pickering burned to the ground after catching fire around 1 a.m. on Friday.
The home, which sits on property owned by the local airport, had been marked for demolition in late November when contractors found a recently-built "confinement room" inside.
Now, a weeks-old investigation into the so-called dungeon's origins has morphed into a possible arson probe, said Inspector Mario Lessard of Durham police.
"There's obviously some question as to how (the fire) started," he told CTVToronto.ca in a Saturday phone interview.
He said Durham police's criminal investigation unit is teaming up with the local fire marshal's office to get to the bottom of the suspicious blaze.
Meanwhile, Lessard said police still aren't sure who built the bizarre basement room which police described in December as appearing to have been "solely designed to hold someone captive."
Though Friday's fire sparked a second investigation involving the farmhouse, Lessard said police are still committed to figuring out where the dungeon-style room came from.
"We're taking it quite seriously and we're hoping to determine who may be responsible for setting it up this way," he said.
