— Clear evidence that liquid accelerant used —
(OSOYOOS TIMES — April 11, 2007) —
By Lawrence McMahenrnOsoyoos Times
An investigation by the B.C. Fire Commissioner's Office has concluded that arson was the cause of the fire that destroyed the Osoyoos Bottle Depot last summer.
The 63-page report from Fire Commissioner's Office investigator Ray Aitken says physical evidence at the scene clearly shows that the fire was set in the early morning hours of August 10 by someone who entered through the front door of the Bottle Depot, sprinkled a liquid accelerant around the office/lounge area near the front of the building, and lit the fire with a match or lighter.
The fire was noticed shortly after 2 a.m. by a number of people, including neighbours and local RCMP making the rounds in a patrol car. After a call was made to 911, the Osoyoos Fire Department responded quickly with 25 firefighters and four trucks “ but the fire quickly engulfed the building.
People in adjacent homes were evacuated as firefighters worked to save nearby buildings. FortisBC workers arrived quickly to take down burnt overhead power lines.
Bottle Depot owner Sandra Palmateer was shaken by the loss of the building, particularly since the fire killed her 10-month-old dog Bart.
Palmateer has operated the bottle-return business in Osoyoos for 15 years, and at the current location for six years.
She was able to reopen the business within a few days using a makeshift building on the same site as the burned-out former Bottle Depot. Palmateer said shortly after the fire that the building was insured and she intended to rebuild on the same site. In the months after the fire she received Town Council approval for the design and permits for a new Osoyoos Bottle Depot building.
An RCMP spokesman says he believes there was a suspect in the arson case, but there was insufficient evidence to lay charges and take the matter to court.
Palmateer told the Times last Friday that she became aware quite a while after the fire that arson was apparently the cause. She says she now believes she knows who did it “ someone who had moved to Osoyoos not long before and who just wanted to see something burn that night. She says, It was nobody that any of us knew.rnShe adds, The sad thing is, they killed our dog, and that's a crime.rnPalmateer says the Fire Commissioner's report has not affected her insurance claim. She says she hopes construction of the new Bottle Depot can begin this week.
Investigator Aitken was on the scene of the fire the next day, on August 11, and spent two days examining the evidence and reconstructing what had happened.
A number of signs, such as a pooling pattern on burned hardwood flooring and fire patterns in other areas, convinced Aitken that the fire was set by a person touching a naked flame to foreign liquid fuel (accelerant).
He says he was able to eliminate electrical or mechanical malfunctions, as well as smoking as possible causes. That leaves his conclusion that the bottle depot structure fire was suspected to have been a fire by design, and incendiary in cause “ a fire believed to be deliberately set by a person or persons unknown at this time.rnOnce set, Aitken says the fire progressed rapidly to engulf the whole 2,300-square-foot, one-storey building. It gutted not only the initial lounge/office area, with a futon and TV, but also the adjacent kitchen and then the bottle sorting and storage areas, including a forklift and two propane tanks.
Temperatures reached 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and went much higher when the two propane tanks burst into flames, Aitken says.
