RCMP say fire that destroyed historic Nova Scotia sawmill and museum not criminal, but locals have doubts

By Preston Mulligan
CBC News
December 5, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: Canada, Canada East

NOVA SCOTIA — Six months after a fire destroyed a historic sawmill and museum in Nova Scotia’s Digby County, RCMP say there is no evidence that a crime took place — a conclusion that has left the head of the commission in charge of the building’s operations unsatisfied and searching for answers. Denise Comeau Desautels, president of the Bangor Development Commission, said “There’s no way that the fire could have started by itself,” said Comeau Desautels, whose organization led a community effort in the 1980s to restore the 19th-century water-powered turbine lumber sawmill. The sawmill section was destroyed by the fire, but the 85 firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before they engulfed the attached museum. There were no surveillance cameras.

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