When combined, the continual saga with arson fires in and around the City of Castlegar has been chosen as Castlegar News’ biggest story of 2023. Stories related to the fires were among our most followed and on the top of our most-read web stories list as well.
As of mid-December, the Castlegar Fire Department had submitted 62 fire reports to the Office of the Fire Commissioner for the City of Castlegar. Of these fires, 44 are considered suspicious/deliberately set and/or arson. That means that 71 per cent of the fires within the city in 2023 were suspicious fires.
Here is a timeline of some of the events.
April 28: Fire chief reports fires calls are up by about 38 per cent year-to-date.
June 5: A downtown Castlegar business called RCMP to report wooden pallets behind their business had been set on fire. A lone suspect was observed on surveillance video lighting the pallet and a piece of cardboard on fire before leaving the fire to burn unattended. The building was constricted of brick, so the fire did not spread.
July 18: Police arrest Riley Jackson in relation to the June fire at a Castlegar business. Police say he was identified on video surveillance.
July 26: Warrant issued for Riley Jackson after he fails to show up for court.
July 29: Two fires are reported in Blueberry around 9 p.m.
July 30: A few hours after the Blueberry fires, a wildland fire in Fairview is reported at 3:42 a.m. after someone heard the sound of crackling in a forested area.
July 31: Around 5:30 p.m., CFD responded to a grass fire approximately two metres by two metres in a semi-treed area between Connors Road and the Dairy Queen.
August: Castlegar RCMP say they have identified a “person of interest” in relation to a number of suspicious fires in the Castlegar area in recent months.
Aug. 4: Around 8:30 a.m. an alert neighbour reported a fire on the river bank opposite Zuckerberg Island, near the suspension bridge.
Aug 4: Around 11 p.m., Kootenay Boundary Fire Rescue found the Canadian Pacific trestle bridge that crosses Lower China Creek in Genelle fully engulfed in flames. The fire caused extensive damage to the rail system and bridge and the cost of repairs is estimated at $1 million.
Aug 5: Around 2 p.m. CFD responded to a fire near the train tracks above Speedy Glass at about the 1000 block of Columbia Avenue.
Aug 5: Around 5 p.m. the Davidson Brook wildfire was reported by someone who saw the smoke from Ootischenia. The fire is roughly in line with the day’s earlier fire, but further up the hill toward the west. The wildfire grew to 2.1 hectares and burned for about two weeks.
Aug. 12: Surveillance footage from a business on Minto Road showed a man cutting up cardboard and compiling items on the ground, lighting the pile on fire, putting it out and then repeating the process several times, according to local police. A 28-year-old local man was arrested, but as of December, Crown had not approved charges related to the incident.
Aug. 23: Charges against Riley Jackson for the June fire are dropped.
Sept. 12: A man and his 10-year-old son escaped an arson fire at their Castlegar home thanks to some alert neighbours after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at their home.
Liam Harder, a Castlegar teen, is later recognized for his role in potentially saving the lives of the home’s occupants.
September: Castlegar Fire Department responds to five suspicious fires. Fire chief reports a 60-percent-increase in fires so far in 2023.
Nov. 30: A Genelle mobile home was destroyed by a suspicious fire that began around 3 a.m.
Dec. 1: Riley Jackson is charged with break and enter at the Genelle home that burned down the day before.
Dec. 5: The absence of charges approved by Crown Counsel related to arson fires in the city prompted Castlegar Mayor Maria McFaddin to ask council to endorse a letter to British Columbia’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety/Solicitor General, Mike Farnworth, and Attorney General, Niki Sharma, asking for their offices to review the situation and pursue solutions to restore public confidence and community safety.