Investigators look for cause behind massive fire at Stoney Creek housing development

Investigators continue to probe what sparked a massive blaze that tore through a new housing development in upper Stoney Creek on Monday afternoon.

The Hamilton Fire Department said Tuesday it has yet to identify a cause behind the fire near Soho Street in the area of Rymal Road and the Upper Red Hill Valley Parkway, which began just before 4 p.m.

The inferno-like fire - so hot Chief Dave Cunliffe said it caused siding to melt and windows to shatter - required more than a day and nearly six-dozen firefighters to be put out entirely.

Buoyed by strong winds, heavy flames fanned some 30 to 40 feet, quickly bouncing from one under-construction townhome to the next. Cunliffe said 23 units in various stages of construction were ultimately damaged, while 12 occupied units to the north of the blaze site sustained heat damage.

No one was injured in the fire that caused a whopping $10 million in damage.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com