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RCMP: Suspicious structural blaze east of Sicamous could have ignited wildfire

Police investigating RV fire in Malakwa
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Sicamous RCMP are investigating a suspicious structural fire that occurred on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (File photo)

Police are investigating after an RV was found engulfed in flames on a property east of Sicamous.

A neighbour reported the fire, which occurred at a rural property in the 3100 block of Luomo Road in Malakwa, at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 28. Officers arrived on scene to find an older 30-foot motorhome parked on the property fully engulfed.

Sgt. Murray McNeil said Malakwa and Sicamous firefighters arrived on scene and quickly extinguished the blaze, which was threatening to ignite a nearby stand of mature cedar trees and underlying tall grass.

Investigating officers determined the RV’s owner had been at the property behaving erratically before the fire. Officers located the owner nearby on Cambie Solsqua Road. McNeil said the owner was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and taken to Shuswap Lake General Hospital where he was held for observation.

“Police have deemed the cause of the fire to be suspicious in nature and continue to investigate,” said McNeil, adding no people were injured.

McNeil said the fire could have started a wildfire near a populated area of Malakwa and he credited the quick response of the responding firefighters for extinguishing the structural blaze before that could happen.

Read more: Crazy Creek Gorge FSR wildfire near Sicamous grows

Read more: Mother Nature offers brief reprieve in Shuswap firefighting efforts



lachlan@saobserver.net
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