A fire early Wednesday that heavily damaged a historic St. Thomas building that had been vacant for nearly a year has been deemed suspicious, fire officials say.

A fire early Wednesday that heavily damaged a historic St. Thomas building that had been vacant for nearly a year has been deemed suspicious, fire officials say.

St. Thomas firefighters responded about 6:30 a.m. to the former Walnut Manor at 57 Walnut St. after an area resident called 911 to report the structure was on fire.

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“The three-storey building was fully engulfed when we arrived on scene, so we called in all off-duty personnel to fight the fire,” said Kim Destun, chief prevention officer with the St. Thomas fire department.

No injuries were reported. The fire originated in the back of the building that was in a state of disrepair and had been last used as a residence for people with physical and mental health challenges.

Firefighters hadn’t estimated the dollar value of the damage caused by the blaze as of midday Wednesday.

But the damage to the structure was so extensive it forced the fire department to bring in an excavator to tear down parts of the building that is more than 130 years old.

“Because the building wasn’t structurally sound, firefighters weren’t able to get in to get all the hot spots out,” Destun said.

By his count, this is the third fire in as many years at Walnut Manor, said Steve Peters, a member of the restoration committee for the historic Old St. Thomas Church that neighbours the now-damaged property and is nearing its 200th anniversary.

Peters, who went to the scene after learning of the fire, said he heaved a sigh of relief when he arrived and saw the church was intact.

“This has been a serious concern for us since that building has been vacant,” he said.

“We were fortunate the wind was blowing in our favour, and we’re extremely grateful to the St. Thomas fire department for their prompt action and containing the fire to the neighbouring building.”

Walnut Manor was operating as a supportive-living residence in July 2021 when Southwestern Public Health ordered it to close following several inspections that found ongoing violations, including extensive mould, rodent and bedbug infestations and a lack of hot running water.

Twenty-six residents who had been living there were moved to other locations.

SupportiveLiving.ca, the Burlington-based company that owned Walnut Manor, announced in October 2021 that the home was being closed permanently. The company said it was working with a local developer to “repurpose” the property near the Elevated Park in the west end of the city as new housing units.

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