Fire

Kamloops jurors to hear case of man charged with manslaughter, arson next week

KAMLOOPS - Beginning next week, jurors in Kamloops Supreme Court will hear evidence in the case of a man charged with manslaughter and arson. David Peter Gordon, born in 1980, is charged with one count of manslaughter and two counts of arson linked to a house fire in April 2013. Cheryl William, 44, was pulled...

Vernon arsonist sent to jail for lighting townhouse on fire while roommate slept

VERNON - A Vernon man who flicked a cigarette onto a bedroom mattress while his roommate was asleep in another room admitted the act was ‘effing stupid.’ Brandon Joshua Milligan Boyce, 20, turned himself in the same day of the townhouse fire on July 17, 2014. The blaze resulted in over $137,000 in damages to...

Fire rips through downtown Penticton businesses

PENTICTON - Penticton firefighters are on scene of a fire at two downtown businesses this morning. The Penticton Fire Department was called to the 200 block of Main Street around 5:40 a.m., Sept. 30, on a first alarm and immediately noticed smoke visible from coming from Fibonacci Roastery and Cafe and the neighbouring Hooked on...

Suspicious house fire in West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA – No one was hurt in an early morning house fire in West Kelowna that investigators are calling suspicious. The fire happened Tuesday, Sept. 22, just before 5:30 a.m. on Alexander Court. No one was home at the time and the cause of the fire is not yet known. Firefighters were able to...

Kamloops couple still searching for furry family member that escaped house fire

KAMLOOPS - A dog that escaped the flames that tore through a family home in Barnhartvale nearly a month ago is still missing.  Janelle Andrews and her boyfriend Cory Lien lost everything they owned after their home caught fire Aug. 21. Both of their dogs made it out safely before the walls came down, but one...

Arrest made in Vernon pet store arson

VERNON - Police have charged a local man with arson in connection to a small fire outside AJ’s Pets & Things earlier this month. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says surveillance footage released by the store showed a man appearing to start the Sept. 6 fire. Police appealed to the public for help locating and identifying...

Police investigating another suspicious fire in Vernon

VERNON - Police in Vernon are investigating another suspected arson, this time outside the curling club. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says the fire started in a pile of display panels used for hanging merchandise which were stacked at the rear of the building. The Vernon Fire Department managed to put out the blaze before it...

Multiple residents displaced after Vernon pot lab explodes

VERNON - Several residents of a Vernon apartment complex were forced out of their homes when a neighbouring unit exploded and now, nearly a month later, they still can’t return home, according to one displaced tenant. Resident James Halpert, who gave only his first and middle name, has lived in his Regency Gardens apartment on...

Two suspicious fires under investigation in Vernon

VERNON - Police are taking two separate suspicious fires in Vernon very seriously. At this point, investigators can’t say if the pair of fires are connected, but RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says these types of cases ‘take a very high priority’ at the detachment, particularly in light of a string of high profile unsolved arsons...

Dog still missing after fire destroys Barnhartvale house

KAMLOOPS - A Barnhartvale couple who lost their dog Aurora and all their possessions in a fire last month continue to search the streets of Kamloops for their only memory of home, their other dog Jasmine. Janelle Andrews and her partner Cory Lien came home to see friends try to douse the flames at their...

Dropping wildfire threat reopens part of Knox Mountain Drive

KELOWNA – Although the majority of Knox Mountain Drive will remain closed due to the risk of wildfire, the road will be reopened to vehicles as far as the first lookout tomorrow. The Friday, Sept. 4 opening comes after the road was closed in July due to the high risk of fire. Urban Forest Technician...

B.C. crews begin work on Washington wildfire

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - B.C. Wildfire firefighters have begun work on a Washington-based wildfire inching its way toward the Canadian border. With five kilometres left before reaching Canada, B.C. crews have been deployed to suppress the Stickpin Fire which is now estimated to be 19,240 hectares in size. Plans so far are for crews to assess the...

Communities on edge: Thompson-Okanagan fire officials field calls for false alarms

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Fire appears to be at the forefront of many peoples’ minds across the Thompson-Okanagan. With wildfires burning across the province and a blanket of smoke from Washington hanging in the air, fire officials say they are receiving a number of reports which are in fact nothing more than false alarms. In the North...