Sooke Shelter fire leads to evacuation; tenant arrested for arson
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Sooke RCMP responding to reports of a disturbance at the Sooke Shelter Thursday morning discovered en route that a tenant was lighting fires in his living area.
Smoke was coming from the Otter Point Road shelter when police arrived, so they helped evacuate the building.
Once all residents were accounted for, shelter staff and officers tried to put out the fire.
The Sooke Fire Department arrived and the fire was extinguished.
The shelter, home to up to 18 residents, was able to stay open.
“This was a pretty dynamic and changing situation for the members involved,” said Staff Sgt. Brett Sinden, the Sooke detachment commander. “They were initially called to a disturbance, arrived to see smoke and transitioned immediately to evacuating residents from the facility.
“It was very fortunate that no one was injured, either staff, residents or officers.”
A 42-year-old suspect was identified but fled before police arrival. He was located a short time later on a B.C. Transit bus and was arrested for arson.
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