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One person has been found dead after a large fire gutted a home in Mississauga on Monday night, officials say.
The fire broke out in the home in the area of Mirage Place and Select Court, near Eglinton Avenue W. and McLaughlin Road, according to Peel Regional Police. Mississauga firefighters and police were called to the home at about 10:40 p.m.
Neighbours reported hearing an explosion. The house was fully engulfed in flames when emergency personnel arrived.
Everyone who lived at the home, including a tenant who lives in the basement, was accounted for, police said. But when investigators went as far as they could into the house safely, they saw the person’s body, Const. Tyler Bell-Morena told reporters at the scene Tuesday.
“It’s very important to understand that we have confirmed there is one person in the residence. It is certainly possible that there are more. Unlikely at this point, with the information that we have, but we have seen this happen,” he said.
The person who died has not been removed from the home yet, he said.
The occupants of the main part of the home were out of the country, he said. Police had no reason to believe anyone else should have been inside, but there were cars in the driveway when emergency personnel arrived.
Officers have removed the cars to allow the investigation to proceed, he added.
Police do not know if anything criminal happened at the home, Bell-Morena said.
They also don’t yet know how the person died. The person’s age and sex has not been released.
It’s also not clear yet where the fire started, he said.
“The structure right now is unstable. That’s why no one has gone in and conducted a more thorough search,” Bell-Morena said.
Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating while the coroner’s office will look into the cause of the person’s death.
Jim Demetriou, spokesperson for the Office of the Fire Marshal, told reporters heavy equipment is expected at the scene on Wednesday to remove debris for the investigation.
Investigators who went to the home on Tuesday are trying to determine the origin, cause and circumstances of the fire, he said. They are expected to return on Wednesday.