By Special to The Daily CourierSunday, July 15, 2007 http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=54231
Oliver‘s fire chief is expected to get his job back after another firefighter is said to have confessed to being a firebug. Dave Janzen had been suspended earlier this month after RCMP reopened an investigation into several suspicious fires in 2003 and questioned the fire chief in connection with them. Town council suspended the chief with pay while police conducted the investigation. Mayor Ron Hovanes was notified Saturday afternoon that another firefighter had written a letter implicating himself and clearing Janzen as a suspect. While Hovanes has not seen the confession, the letter was read to him over the phone, and he is convinced the way is now cleared for council to reinstate Janzen, a 33-year veteran of the fire department. “I‘ve been given every indication by the RCMP (Janzen) is no longer a suspect,” said Hovanes. He refused to verify the name of the new suspect.
The deliberately caused fires kept the department busy even while the Okanagan Mountain Park and Vaseux Lake fires were raging. “I‘m guessing there‘ll be some healing and debriefing at the fire hall,” said Hovanes. “Throughout it all, I never spoke to a single person in the community who was not in shock and that didn‘t support (Janzen).” He plans to call a special meeting of council Thursday morning, and while he can‘t predetermine what council will do, “I don‘t think I‘ll have a problem getting a council member to put the resolution (to reinstate Janzen) on the floor.” Janzen, currently in Edmonton and expected to return Thursday, released a statement through a family friend. “It‘s a tremendous feeling to have this over with. I‘m happy to be back, thanks to all my friends that stood up for me and the tremendous support from the citizens of Oliver. “It will be business as usual as soon as I‘m home.”
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