Police have laid a charge against a 13-year-old youth following a devastating fire in Lower Gibsons Friday, June 4 that left six people homeless and destroyed two waterfront buildings.
Sunshine Coast RCMP arrested a 13-year-old suspect this week. He was charged with arson and released on a promise to appear in Sechelt provincial court July 7, pending approval charges by Crown counsel.
On Sunday, June 6, a second youth, aged 11, went to the RCMP detachment along with his father to provide information regarding the alleged setting of the fire. Further police investigation led to the arrest of the 13-year-old.
No charges can be laid against the 11-year-old.
According to senior media relations officer Sgt. Peter Thiessen, initial investigation determined at the scene that two youths were seen leaving the area of the fire before police and fire department attendance.
"Subsequent investigation identified two youths, an 11-year-old male and a 13-year-old male as being allegedly responsible for setting the fire," said Thiessen in a news release. "The two youths had skipped school on June 4 and were hanging out underneath Coles Marine Diesel."
No lives lost
Lives were spared in last Friday's fire thanks to a pot of soup.
Suzanne Senger, owner of the Wynken Blynken Nod (WBN) Backpackers B&B on Marine Drive, was working late that night and had made a pot of soup for her 13-year-old son Raven's dinner. She said she was late for work and ran out of the house, later thinking she had left the pot of soup on the stove.
"So, I'm sitting at the bus stop thinking 'did I leave the soup on?'" Senger recalled. "I called my tenant Jen White, who was just going down for a nap because she had just got her two-year-old to sleep, and I woke her up and asked her to check the stove. She ran downstairs and the stove was off. We shared a bit of a laugh and I hung up.
"She went back upstairs to check on the baby, but she heard some crashing and banging next door at Coles [Marine Diesel] and looked out the window and saw the flames."
Senger said White then ran outside along with Raven and they saw the flames beginning to grow. Raven called 911 while White tried to stomp out the fire, but it was growing too quickly. She ran back inside and grabbed her baby, while Raven ran into the burning building looking for a garden hose at the back of the property to try and fight the fire, but the flames and heat were just too intense.
The Gibsons fire department was called out to the fire at Coles just after 3 p.m.
Deputy fire chief Bruce McClymont said when he arrived, flames could be seen growing from a hedge between the two structures. He said the flames were probably three metres above the power poles.
"We had three trucks and eight guys initially, then I made a second page for engine two and another engine arrived from Roberts Creek," said McClymont.
"It was a very tricky fire to fight because of the location of the buildings. We could only fight so much of the fire on the street, and then we had to tackle it from the beach. Our guys had to battle the unstable beach ground and also make sure that they didn't get too close because as the building collapsed, it would have collapsed towards them.
"Kudos to all of our guys - they did a fantastic job."
Coles Marine Diesel was destroyed along with the WBN and a residential home on the property.
Senger and her friends spent the weekend trying to salvage what they could from what little remained.
"It's heartbreaking. I spent eight years and every ounce of energy pouring into this place because I love it, so to watch it burn like that, it's pretty tragic," Senger said.
According to Senger, the hostel was closed down Dec. 31 and she had spent the last four months renovating the WBN into suites. Her first tenant moved into the main level on March 1, the second April 1 and the third May 1.
"My last tenant who moved in, lost everything she had," Senger said. "So there were three tenants in the main building. Raven and I lived in the house and my boyfriend was living in the small cottage. That was the only thing not touched by the fire, although there is some smoke and water damage."
"When I think of Raven and how brave he was and Jen trying to put out the fire - I'm just kind of in shock," said Senger.
"That pot of soup probably saved everyone. Thank God no one was hurt. The fire department did an amazing job.
"Those guys are true heroes."
Firefighters arrived quickly: neighbour
Debbie McCaffrey lives right across the street from Coles. She said she was inside her house when she heard a very loud, "pop, pop" and came outside to investigate.
"As soon as I got outside all I could see was a huge cloud of smoke and the flames," McCaffrey said.
"The fire department got here very quickly. There were a few people outside and everyone pulled together to help block off traffic until the police arrived. I'm happy that no one was hurt, but it's devastating. I've never seen a fire like that first hand. It's just incredible how quickly a fire can go."
McClymont said at the height of the blaze, there were 30 firefighters on scene between the two departments.
He said several past members of the Gibsons department also made their way to the area when word of the fire spread to provide support and help at the scene with crowd control until Sunshine Coast RCMP took over and contained the scene.
Traffic was closed off along Marine Drive for several hours. The fire was knocked down between 4 and 4:30 p.m.
Gibsons firefighters remained on the scene for several hours mopping up hot spots and ensuring the scene was safe while the Roberts Creek department cleared the scene just after 6 p.m. The power was out for more than 1,500 residents in the area and wasn't restored until 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
Community
rallies to help victims
Within 24 hours of the blaze, the community had already begun to pull together to offer its support to those left homeless.
On Saturday afternoon (June 5), local musician Peter Beauchamp helped organize an impromptu musical fundraiser in Lower Gibsons. Once the music had stopped, more than $2,600 in money, clothing donations and household items had been collected.
Beauchamp is also organizing a raffle with tickets available at Molly's Lane Market to try and raise more money to replace some items for Raven.
"These are kids, adults and friends deeply in need," said Beauchamp in an email message sent out Saturday morning to help promote the fundraiser. "And we in this wonderful community have a chance once again to come together in music, love and our kind hearts to help make this a little bit easier for these people and their losses."
The Beauchamp/Miller fire victim trust fund has been set up as well. Those wishing to do so, can donate to the fund at any branch of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union.
Senger said she is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.
"It's overwhelming. I'm so grateful. It's an overwhelming sense of gratitude for life and community. We're alive. It's just stuff. I woke up this morning and said, it's just stuff, we can re-build," she said. People have offered me a place to stay. Just this morning [Sunday] my neighbour Marie Bensley offered me one of her units for a month for free. We'll be OK. People have said just re-build it better.
"I woke up Sunday morning and said to myself, what can I do today? We have this little garden out back and my friend Alain Bergeron brought over some organic tomato seeds and we decided to start re-planting the garden. Out of the ashes a garden will grow."
Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk said it was a sad day for the community.
"This is one of those tragic losses for the community," said Janyk. "This is one of the reasons why you try so hard to protect your heritage and retain the character of the community. A little bit of Gibsons died today."
