An investigation into a suspicious house fire on Alison Avenue in Hope last night is expected to begin this afternoon.

A preliminary investigation by fire chief Tom DeSorcy early this morning revealed the "origin of the fire" but not a “source of ignition.”

The fire began in the open carport behind a makeshift plastic-covered wood-framed building used to store items for the tenant’s regular garage sale.

On Tuesday evening a resident living across the street first spotted the blaze and ran to another neighbour’s home to get help.

Dale Hahn said he was awoke to her banging at the door and the doorbell ringing and ringing. He ran next door and tried to put out the fire with a garden hose but the “heat and the smoke” drove him back.

Fearing that someone was inside, Hahn then kicked in the front door and began calling out. “She was at the top of the stairs when I saw her and she didn’t seem to know. I yelled to her that she had to get out, her house was on fire.”

Moments later the fire spread from the carport to the front of the home, the heat melting the siding and shattering the front window.

The house, once known as ‘Alison House’ on the streets, is well known to police and has been the subject of many complaints to the District of Hope about bylaw infractions in the past.

The couple currently living in the home, says Hahn, have never been a problem for him, however, there is still lots of activity around the home late at night.

The woman who escaped the fire with Hahn’s help also desperately tried to put out the flames with the garden hose before she was ordered away by firefighters who feared for her safety. Her boyfriend arrived home soon after – collapsing into a huddle along with his girlfriend and his dog.

The home suffered extensive damage.

The owner of the Alison Avenue home was also the owner of a rental property on River Parade which went up in flames last year. In that fire one of the many tenants was reportedly running a generator in the carport to supply power to the home when it ignited a pillow.