Explosion not the cause

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office has ruled out an explosion as the cause of a house fire just east of Shabaqua on Highway 11-17.

An investigation continues into the Saturday evening blaze that levelled the home.

OPP Private-Const. Diana Cole said Thunder Bay OPP and the Kaministiquia, Conmee and Oliver-Paipoonge fire departments responded to the fire at about 8 p.m.

"The home was totally engulfed in flames and destroyed," she said. "No one was at the residence at the time of the fire."

It was a busy weekend for the OPP as they conducted a RIDE spot check Saturday night into Sunday morning.

At about 1 a.m., a Highway Safety Division officer saw a driver of a 2002 GMC Sierra attempting to avoid the spot check. A 22-year-old male from Thunder Bay was arrested and charged with impaired driving.

Around the same time, an officer stopped a 1992 Honda on Balsam Street and while speaking with the driver observed him to have obvious signs of impairment. Police charged the 47-year-old male driver with impaired driving; he was subsequently found to be three times over the legal limit.