Firefighters suspect an accelerant, like gasoline, started a fire at a women-only residence at 230 Nepean St. on Saturday night. None of the building's 17 residents was injured in the fire.

A suspicious fire that broke out at a women-only rooming house over the weekend is not connected to a fatal blaze at a women's shelter the week before, Ottawa police say.

The fire broke out just before midnight on Saturday at 230 Nepean St., where 17 women — many of them immigrants or students — were living. While there were no injuries, the fire caused an estimated $100,000 in damage.

On Nov. 8, a 61-year-old woman died in a fire at the Cornerstone women's shelter on MacLaren Street, located just four blocks away. The cause of that fire is still under investigation, but the blaze is not considered suspicious.

'Very indicative of an accelerant'

Michael McCormack, district fire chief, said the Nepean Street fire was suspicious and that an accelerant, such as gasoline, likely was used.

"There was something different — unique — about the fire by the way it was reacting to the water that was put on it," he said. "It was very indicative of an accelerant."

On Monday, police dismissed reports that the Nepean Street fire had been caused by a Molotov cocktail thrown through a bay window into a main-floor room.

The building's residents were given temporary shelter in a nearby hotel, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army supplied them with food and clothing.

The building's owner said he doesn't know how long it will be before his tenants can move back into their homes.