Suspect arrested after Salmon Arm fire police believe was deliberately set
OKANAGAN — A suspect has been arrested after police say a brush fire that threatened a business along the Trans Canada Highway in Salmon Arm appears to have been intentionally set.
Salmon Arm RCMP were called to the 300 block of the Trans Canada Highway SW at approximately 5:56 p.m. on Aug. 8. Officers arrived to find brush fully engulfed in flames and threatening a nearby business.
Police officers assisted members of the public in containing the fire until it was extinguished. No injuries were reported, and damage was limited to nearby bushes and trees.
RCMP said their investigation determined the fire had apparently been intentionally set. Officers identified a suspect believed to be responsible, who was located and arrested without incident the following day.
The RCMP release does not identify the suspect or state whether charges have been laid.
“Thanks to the quick actions of responding officers and community members, the fire was extinguished before it could spread to nearby buildings,” Staff Sgt. Simon Scott of the Salmon Arm RCMP said.
Scott said the investigation remains ongoing and police are continuing to look for additional witnesses.
Anyone with information who has not already spoken with police is asked to contact Salmon Arm RCMP at 250-832-6044.
The incident comes amid separate RCMP investigations into a series of small fires elsewhere in the Shuswap.
On Aug. 5, firefighters responded to five fires in the North Shuswap. At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Celista Fire Department was dispatched to a brush fire along Squilax Anglemont Road and found three small fires burning in the ditch about 100 metres apart.
Two more fires were reported in the Anglemont area. Residents were already working to contain the fires when firefighters arrived.
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District said all five fires were considered suspicious and had become part of an RCMP investigation.
North Shuswap fire departments were called out again on Aug. 7 after additional spot fires were discovered in the Scotch Creek area near Copper Cove Road. Three were initially reported, but a subsequent CSRD fire investigation found seven small spot fires in total that day.
Combined with the five discovered Aug. 5, that brought the number of North Shuswap spot fires found over the two days to 12.
The CSRD said additional RCMP and Natural Resource officers were brought into the area Aug. 7 and the police investigation was continuing.
The Salmon Arm RCMP release does not mention the North Shuswap fires, and the CSRD updates on those incidents do not mention the Salmon Arm fire.
RCMP investigating the cause of the Bald Range wildfire are asking for witnesses and footage from areas around Princeton-Summerland Road and Bathville Road while warning against misinformation circulating online about a person shown setting off a bear banger.