Vernon pet store posts video of arson suspect

VERNON – The owner of a Vernon pet story is hoping someone recognizes the man suspected of starting a fire on the Labour Day long weekend.

A video taken by AJ’s Pets and Things security camera has been posted to the store’s Facebook page.

Firefighters were called to the downtown store early in the morning Sept. 6 to find a fire burning in the rear of the building. The fire was quickly put out but not before smoke filled the store. None of the animals were hurt.

The store's owner is also trying to track down the homeless man who is being called a hero.

The man noticed the smoke and tried to put out the fire with a bucket of sand used by smokers at the KFC next door, according to the Facebook post.

The video also shows the man scooping water from a puddle with a drink cup from the garbage and throwing it on fire at the store’s back door for about 30 minutes before fire crews arrived.

“Can't wait to shake his hand and thank him,” the post says.

Vernon RCMP are investigating the fire, one of two suspicious blazes in the city that weekend.

SECURITY CAMERA VIDEO OF SUSPECT

SECURITY CAMERA VIDEO OF GOOD SAMARITAN

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.