St. Albert firefighters discovered a deceased man inside a Pineview home last Friday afternoon.
Firefighters were called to the home at 61 Pineridge Cr. around 12:15 after the woman who owned the house came home to find smoke billowing from her front door. She attempted to enter, to see if her husband was in the home, but was turned back by the heavy smoke.
Firefighters were on the scene within minutes and extinguished the blaze quickly, but found the man, Gregory Bodnar, 57, deceased inside. From the outside of the home, there appeared to be very little damage from the fire.
Cpl. Laurel Kading of the St. Albert RCMP said officers remained at the scene over the weekend while they awaited the report from the medical examiner, but throughout the investigation they did not believe a crime had taken place.
“We are basically exercising proper investigative procedures, but at this point we are not considering this suspicious and we are not looking for any suspects in the fire,” said Kading on Friday.
On Tuesday, Kading said the medical examiner had determined definitively that there was no foul play involved in the man’s death.
“The medical examiner had determined that the death is non-criminal in nature.”
The St. Albert fire department is working with the local RCMP along with the forensic team from the RCMP's Edmonton headquarters, Kading said. She did not yet have a cause for the fire.
She said the detachment's victim services unit was called in to provide support and anyone who feels affected by the tragedy can contact the RCMP.
“If they wish to have support from victim services they are welcome to call our office and we can connect them,” she said.
