UPDATE: A man has been arrested in connection to Tuesday’s suspicious morning fires, Kelowna RCMP announced in the afternoon.
Police say the 26-year-old Kelowna man was taken into custody after being arrested along Pandosy Street, near Rose Avenue. They added he remains in custody and is facing a number of potential charges.
The RCMP also released more details about the two fires.
Police say they responded to the first fire after a man was observed lighting bushes on fire along Leckie Road, and “gathered evidence from witnesses from the apparent arson, while firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the blaze and prevent it from spreading.”
The second fire involved a police officer noticing something amiss in front of a convenience store that sells propane tanks along the 1100 block of KLO Road.
“A front line RCMP officer spotted the arson suspect outside that location,” said Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey. “However, the suspect fled from the officer on a bicycle.
“Our police officer stayed at the scene after she spotted smoke emanating from the area of the front entrance to the store. She located, removed and quickly extinguished a burning piece of material that had been placed amongst numerous propane tanks.
“Thankfully, no one was injured as a result of these reckless acts.”
O’Donaghey said a containment area was established and search was carried out, with the suspect being later arrested.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Two small fires early Tuesday in Kelowna have been declared as suspicious.
The first fire occurred around 6 a.m. and involved a stretch of burning shrubs lining Leckie Road, near the Canadian Tire on Highway 97.
The second fire happened around 8:30 a.m. and involved crumpled-up papers being lit near propane tanks in front of a convenience store at KLO and Gordon Drive.
The Kelowna Fire Department (KFD) said both were extinguished without incident and that both have been deemed suspicious.
KFD platoon captain Dennis Miller also said the incidents were turned over to police for investigation.
WATCH (July 8, 2019): Investigation into a fire at a West Kelowna fiveplex has been turned over to police
Miller said they got a report of the first fire around 6:30 a.m., “of some trees and bushes on fire at the Canadian Tire. We attended with one fire engine and extinguished the fire without incident.”
The second incident happened just outside the Circle K convenience store, which has propane tanks stored out front, in locked green cages.
“It turned out that it was just some crumpled-up papers that had been lit by somebody,” said Miller. “The fire was extinguished without incident; there was no propane involved.”
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