PENTICTON \u2014 A massive fire that destroyed a care home under construction in Penticton, B.C., is being investigated as suspicious. <\/p>\n
RCMP say specialized investigators were only able to access the site Wednesday, a week after the fire that prompted the city to issue an evacuation order and declare a state of local emergency. <\/p>\n
Mounties say officers are conducting a criminal investigation and “exploring every possible avenue” to gather evidence and identify those responsible.<\/p>\n
The site was supposed to become a 200-bed long-term care facility aimed at addressing acute local demands, and Health Minister Josie Osborne has called the fire “devastating” for the area’s seniors.<\/p>\n
Residents of 10 homes nearby were evacuated due to an unstable crane at the site, but they were allowed back this week.<\/p>\n
Police say fire investigators were also kept out of the site until it was considered safe this week. <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PENTICTON \u2014 A massive fire that destroyed a care home under construction in Penticton, B.C., is being investigated as suspicious. RCMP say specialized investigators were only able to access the site Wednesday, a week after the fire that prompted the city to issue an evacuation order and declare a state of local emergency. Mounties say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":8488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"guid":"1740b6c7-a01c-486b-966f-330bbc053613","source":"The Canadian Press","byline":"","published":"2026-06-05 09:53:05","updated":"2026-06-05 09:53:05","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1681,1691],"tags":[],"region":[1686,1687,324],"class_list":["post-8487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bc","category-justice","region-british-columbia","region-canada","region-penticton"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8487\/penticton-bc-fire-at-care-home-construction-site-considered-suspicious-rcmp\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Penticton, B.C., fire at care home construction site considered ‘suspicious:’ RCMP","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8487\/penticton-bc-fire-at-care-home-construction-site-considered-suspicious-rcmp\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8487\/penticton-bc-fire-at-care-home-construction-site-considered-suspicious-rcmp\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-effea246786065efd2b4e695c6406bbf95f34264571c4f1375d8a252e785c0cf.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-effea246786065efd2b4e695c6406bbf95f34264571c4f1375d8a252e785c0cf.jpg"},"articleSection":"B.C.","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Canadian Press"}],"creator":["The Canadian Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNhome","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-06-05T16:53:05Z","datePublished":"2026-06-05T16:53:05Z","dateModified":"2026-06-05T16:53:05Z"},"rendered":"