Explosion deemed arson
WINDSOR, Ont. (29/09/14) – The Windsor Auto Hut Clinic on the corner of Howard Ave. and Hanna St. E. was intentionally set in the middle of the night Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. The Ontario Fire Marshal is working with Windsor Police, as well as the Technical Safety Standards Authority to determine a cause. No one was working at the time, but one car was burnt in the fire. The police have no suspects as of yet. Photo by Mandy Matthews.
By Mandy Matthews
Two white-haired men drove onto the lot while the investigators were searching inside the building. Earl Laframboise, 80, has owned the building for 60 years. At first glance of the fire damage, Laframboise did not have much to say, but his brother Bob said he did not know what could have caused the explosion.
“It’s just a garage. They don’t have any toxic material in there that I know of,” said Bob. “It would take more than aerosol cans to make that explosion.”
An explosion at the Windsor Auto Hut Clinic has been deemed to be arson. Windsor Fire tweeted an estimate of $350,000 in damage.
The garage doors and glass windows were all blown out. Singed newspapers blew across the lot with pages rolling under cars. A section of the Windsor Star stayed molded to the ground with the word Life in bold letters at the top. There was a dusty baseball cap laying upright under an exhaust pipe as if someone placed it there.
Bahram Mokhtari left the shop Sunday afternoon after working on two cars. In the early hours of the morning of Sept. 29, he was awoken by a phone call from the Windsor Police.
Later that morning and into the afternoon, the choking smell of smoke was still in the air. Five cars sat outside the garage and two cars, one that was once white, sat in the garage awaiting an appraisal. Mokhtari never had a chance to look at the vehicle and with insulation piled on top of it, he will leave the appraisal in the hands of the insurance.
“All of the phone (numbers) is in the book there,” said Mokhtari. “All is burnt, I can’t even find them right now.”
Police were originally called to the 1500 block of Howard Ave. on the corner of Hanna St. E. for traffic control while Windsor Fire contained the flames. Sgt. Matthew D’Asti said due to the magnitude of the explosion, debris and metal parts were strewn onto the road.
At that point, the arson unit, the Ontario Fire Marshall and the Technical Safety Standards Authority were called in.
“What we’ve learned based on evidence that has been gathered at the scene, is that there was some type of explosion within that building,” said Sgt. D’Asti. “Our arson team was called to the scene because of the evidence that was prevalent there.”
The investigation is still on going. The police have not released any persons of interest.
Piroska Spiller, 71, walks by the Auto Hut to buy her groceries. She said the owners did not burn down their business intentionally for insurance purposes.
“Some people burn down their business, but they wouldn’t want to lose their business,” said Spiller. “It’s a pity they will be out of work. Maybe they will find another place to make the business, but the tools doesn’t burn.”
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