Fire crews save Courtenay heritage train station after attempted arson

RCMP are investigating aft idiosyncratic deliberately acceptable occurrence to a salient practice gathering successful Courtenay, B.C.

Security video captured the culprit arsenic they acceptable the gathering alight.

Courtenay Fire Department Deputy Chief Jonathan Welsh said firefighters were called to the heritage bid station connected Cumberland Road astir 8:45 p.m. connected Thursday.

Crews arrived to find 1 of the building’s corners connected occurrence with flames extending towards the attic abstraction and spreading rapidly owed to wind.

Fortunately, Welsh said, the occurrence section was adjacent and crews were capable to enactment the occurrence down earlier it earnestly damaged the structure.

“It has practice status, evidently it’s a important building,” helium said.

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“Due to the age, it would person been a important occurrence should it person dispersed and perchance damaged the neighbouring properties.”

Security video captured from a neighbouring spot shows a idiosyncratic mounting occurrence to thing connected the station’s level earlier casually walking away.

“The grounds is beauteous telling, the idiosyncratic came up, lit the occurrence and instantly left,” Welsh said.

The presumption suffered harm to the exterior and platform area, but Welsh said the flames did not widen past the country wherever the occurrence started.

The station, built successful 1914, erstwhile formed the bluish terminus of a railway enactment that had been intended to widen each the mode to Campbell River.

The metropolis granted it practice presumption successful 2002.