As firefighters put out the last of the nearly five hectare blaze off King Edward Road outside of Coldstream, investigators are hoping a reward will entice someone to come forward with information 
critical to identifying those responsible for starting the blaze.“If there is information on an arson from someone that leads to a conviction there is up to a $50,000 reward,” said Vernon fire protection officer Jeff Moore.The fire started late Friday night when a slash pile of pine beetle infested timber was set alight and the flames spread into the forest. Nearby on King Edward Road a car was set ablaze and beer cans were found littered around the slash pile.Moore said the two fires were likely started by the same group of people. He said in the past week there have been at least two stolen cars that were driven into rural areas and set on fire.“There’s a very good chance it can be attributed to the same folks in that area,” he said. “It’s not unusual for car thefts that are in Vernon to end up that way.”It was likely a case of someone thinking they were having a little fun by lighting the fire, Moore said. Emergency crews were unable to find anyone at the scene when they arrived late Friday night, he said.“The police actually beat us up there,” he said. “By the time they got up there everybody was gone.”Firefighters were fortunate that the fire happened when it did, Moore said. Air tanker units were about to power down for the year and Moore said without their help the fire would have spread much farther.“Fortunately (Saturday) was the last day for the air tanker fleet to be working,” he said. “We’ve got about 30 firefighters up there by tomorrow we’ll be down to between five and 10.”The fire was located in a flat area which allowed fire crews to move in quickly with ground equipment and gain control, Moore said.However, Moore said it was a frustrating fire to fight because it was completely unnecessary. He said whoever started the fire jeopardized the lives of all of the firefighters who were forced to tackle the blaze.“We’ve expended somewhere in the order of $100,000 for sure,” he said. “It was a relatively small fire but late in the season the cost adds up very quickly.”This weekend’s fire underlines the fact that forests are still dry and the threat of more fires still looms, Moore said. The current fire risk is listed as moderate but without a long stretch of rain, he said bans on burning will continue.“After a few days of rain people start pushing to get open burning going again,” he said. “We decided that we wanted to hold off.”Anyone with information about who set the fire is asked to call the Vernon RCMP at 545-7171 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
critical to identifying those responsible for starting the blaze.“If there is information on an arson from someone that leads to a conviction there is up to a $50,000 reward,” said Vernon fire protection officer Jeff Moore.The fire started late Friday night when a slash pile of pine beetle infested timber was set alight and the flames spread into the forest. Nearby on King Edward Road a car was set ablaze and beer cans were found littered around the slash pile.Moore said the two fires were likely started by the same group of people. He said in the past week there have been at least two stolen cars that were driven into rural areas and set on fire.“There’s a very good chance it can be attributed to the same folks in that area,” he said. “It’s not unusual for car thefts that are in Vernon to end up that way.”It was likely a case of someone thinking they were having a little fun by lighting the fire, Moore said. Emergency crews were unable to find anyone at the scene when they arrived late Friday night, he said.“The police actually beat us up there,” he said. “By the time they got up there everybody was gone.”Firefighters were fortunate that the fire happened when it did, Moore said. Air tanker units were about to power down for the year and Moore said without their help the fire would have spread much farther.“Fortunately (Saturday) was the last day for the air tanker fleet to be working,” he said. “We’ve got about 30 firefighters up there by tomorrow we’ll be down to between five and 10.”The fire was located in a flat area which allowed fire crews to move in quickly with ground equipment and gain control, Moore said.However, Moore said it was a frustrating fire to fight because it was completely unnecessary. He said whoever started the fire jeopardized the lives of all of the firefighters who were forced to tackle the blaze.“We’ve expended somewhere in the order of $100,000 for sure,” he said. “It was a relatively small fire but late in the season the cost adds up very quickly.”This weekend’s fire underlines the fact that forests are still dry and the threat of more fires still looms, Moore said. The current fire risk is listed as moderate but without a long stretch of rain, he said bans on burning will continue.“After a few days of rain people start pushing to get open burning going again,” he said. “We decided that we wanted to hold off.”Anyone with information about who set the fire is asked to call the Vernon RCMP at 545-7171 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
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