Photo courtesy Ken Kurz/Dryden Fire Service

Photo courtesy Allin Marcino

Dryden Police and Dryden Fire Service are suspecting arson in the destruction of a vacant house on the corner of Queen St. and Van Horne over the weekend.

Dryden 911 received multiple calls to the site at 2:05 a.m., Saturday morning April 24, across from the busy Queen Street Station Hotel.

Upon arrival Dryden Police Service members identified the fully involved structure fire, as a vacant, boarded-up two storey older brick home and began crowd and traffic control of the patrons now exiting the pub.

The intense out-of-control blaze took firefighters two hours to gain control over with five water handlines, and an aerial ladder stream.

The Dryden Fire Service responded with five apparatus and 28 firefighters from Hall 1 on the first alarm and soon after dispatched Hall 2 — adding eight more firefighters and four apparatus to the scene.

Fire crews remained on the scene for another six hours putting out spot fires, and assisting in demolition of the building.

The cause of this suspected arson fire is under investigation by the Dryden Police and Fire Service, anyone with information about this fire is asked to call, the Dryden Police Service at 223 – 3281.