Police, fire crews investigate fire at rooming house

A fire that extensively damaged a rooming house complex at 331 Seymour St around 11:15 p.m. Saturday is being treated as suspicious until police and fire investigators can safely return to the structure to conduct a more thorough scene examination of the site.

Investigators traditionally treat fire scenes of this nature as suspicious until a complete site examination can be conducted. The area around the burned building was cordoned off and secured after fire crews left the site early this morning.

Kamloops Fire and Rescue crews notified the RCMP and requested assistance with traffic and scene control around the structure where fire had fully engulfed the upper units of the building and destroyed the roof.

The lower housing units were also heavily damaged by smoke and water and are not inhabitable. Emergency Social Services were called to the scene and provided assistance in obtaining accommodations for everyone who required assistance. By 4:30 a.m. Sunday, all residents of the building had been accounted for and there were no reported injuries in connection with the fire.

Police and fire investigators are expected to return to the site this afternoon to continue their examination of the fire scene. The primary focus of the scene examination is to identify the location, origin and cause of the blaze.