Two suspicious Vernon blazes in less than 48-hours

VERNON – Investigators in the North Okanagan now have two more suspicious fires on their hands. On Sunday morning there was a fire in the alley behind a Vernon pet shop then early Tuesday morning a utility trailer parked on a residential street was charred by flames.

It was business as usual at AJ’s Pets & Things Tuesday. However, around the back of the store you could still see evidence of Sunday morning’s fire. The walls around the shop’s back entrance are blackened and a charred door sits nearby. Owner Andrew Willmott says recycling was set on fire near the shop’s back door.

“The wood door being a solid core wood door basically went up and it burned through the jamb,” he says. “I’d say another 20 minutes it probably would have been inside and that would have been it. The whole building would have gone.”

Smoke from the fire made its way into the building but the animals inside were not harmed. Willmott believes security camera images captured the culprit in action.

“We’ve got video footage of him walking, pacing back and forth, looking at it and we’ve given that to the RCMP,” he says.

The footage also appears to show a Good Samaritan working to put out the fire.

“I think he probably saved the day, to be honest with you,” says Willmott. “I’d like to know where this fellow is so we can remunerate him somehow.”

Less than 48 hours later police had another suspicious fire to investigate. A utility trailer parked in the 2300-block of 33rd St. was in flames. Neighbour April Conlin spotted the fire at about 2:30 Tuesday morning and called 911.

The Vernon area is no stranger to suspicious fires. But at this point RCMP say they have no links to connect the latest blazes to each other or to previous incidents.

Watch: Suspicious fires add up in Vernon

“We are aware of those fires and the concerns of the community. These sorts of investigations here in Vernon do take a very high priority with us,” says Cst. Jocelyn Noseworthy of the Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP.

Police are hoping anyone with information about the two most recent blazes will come forward as they continue to investigate.

In May of 2014 there was another suspicious fire involving recycling behind the same pet store. Two people were arrested in connection with that fire. Sunday’s blaze behind AJ’s Pets & Things is not believed to have any connection to last year’s fire.