An 83-year-old woman’s body was found in the rubble of a house fire near Hollow Glen on April 7.
According to a City of Gatineau Fire Department report, firefighters responded to the fire at a Chemin Klock home around 3:20 a.m.
According to a later City of Gatineau Police report, an autopsy will be performed to confirm the woman’s identity.
Three other residents were displaced and taken into the care of The Red Cross, and the fire is now being investigated by the City of Gatineau Police. The cause of fire is unknown but police don’t suspect wrongdoing.
This is the second reported house fire in the first week of April in the Hollow Glen area. A home burned at the corner of Chemins de la Paix and du Vent early in the morning of April 1, which left three without a home and sent a Chelsea Fire Department firefighter to the hospital.
On top of the two fires in the area, a home on Chemin Champagnac was broken into while the owners were away between April 3 and 6. Items totaling in the “many thousands” of dollars were stolen, according to MRC des Collines Police Sgt. Martin Fournel, who couldn’t specify further because of the active investigation into the crime.
A forensic specialist inspected the residence the morning the break-in was discovered. Fournel said no other break-ins have been reported in the area, but cautioned people to be vigilant.
“Some people ... they’re just driving around looking if people are [home or not],” he said about thieves casing neighbourhoods for homes to steal from.
Fournel said the police have rearranged patrol routes to focus more on concerns people have about their second residences or empty businesses being broken into. Correction: This story was edited to remove an error and add information.