Body discovered at fire scene

Updated 22 days ago

HICKSON — Oxford OPP is advising that one body was been located at the scene of an overnight fire on the 11th Line of east Zorra-Tavistock. The body was removed from the scene and the identity is pending results of a post mortem examination.

Oxford OPP spent most of the day searching for a father and son amongst the rubble.

The fire was called into emergency services by a neighbour shortly after midnight Wednesday morning. When firefighters from Hickson, Innerkip and Tavistock fire departments arrived at the scene the flames had fully engulfed the two-storey home.

Unaccounted for is a 76-year-old resident of the home and his 54-year-old son. It's expected both should have been in the home at the time of the blaze but their remains have not yet been located or identified.

"We believe they should have been in the residence at the time," Oxford OPP Const. Dennis Harwood said. "The building collapsed in on itself— the second floor caved in on top of the first floor and then into the basement.

"Firefighters and the Ontario Fire Marshal are now having to knock down the walls of the structure and clear the debris away in stages."

The investigators are also still searching for a cause to the blaze.

Police are not releasing the names of the two men at the request of the family.