Authorities are investigating a suspicious Sunday morning trailer fire at a Taghum property that resulted in the death of one individual.
RCMP Insp. Tom Roy accompanied a forensic anthropologist to the scene Monday as part of the investigation into the death. Authorities have not released the name, gender, or age of the victim. An autopsy will be performed by the BC Coroners Service. Meanwhile Nelson fire chief Len MacCharles is looking into the fire’s cause.
LATE NIGHT CONFLAGRATION
Next door neighbour George Fofonow awoke at approximately 4 a.m. Sunday to find the property near the intersection of Granite and Fofonow roads engulfed in flames.
Seemingly centered around the yard’s primary trailer, the blaze had spread to the surrounding structures and was causing a series of house-rattling explosions.
"I went to bed late last night, about 2 a.m. But I didn't realize there was a time change so it was actually closer to 3 a.m. As I was going to bed I heard a real loud — well, it wasn't a bang or a boom. It was a slam. I just wondered what the hell was going on next door."
When he rushed onto his porch after being woken by his wife an hour later, Fofonow saw another man who lived on the property frantically running around the fire. He yelled for Fofonow and his wife to call the fire department, but emergency services were already en route.
"I thought our house could be in danger. There were phone calls coming in because there were a coupleof vehicle explosions. But the explosions kept going and going and going. Fire was coming out of the sky and flying out towards the lake. There were so many flammable things in that yard."
Fofonow said he's never seen anything like it.
"It was terrifying, like a war zone.”
COLLABORATIVE FIREFIGHTING
Nelson firefighters responded with help from the Beasley and Blewett fire departments, as there are no hydrants in the area. To fight the fire they had to continually fill a holding pool of water while the pumper tank emptied it.
“Upon arrival of the first crew, the structure was completely involved in fire as well as multiple vehicles and outbuildings,” assistant fire chief Michael Daloise said in a news release. “The first arriving crew's primary objective was to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighbouring properties.”
MacCharles said the scene was chaotic.
“There was a lot of destruction. There were butane canisters sitting outside, the size of hairspray bottles, stuffed into cardboard boxes,” he told the Star. “When the place got fully involved it started sending canisters shooting out like little missiles, ranging from five to ten feet to over 100 feet.”
They also had to work around a downed power line, and though a few full-sized propane tanks exploded nearby, no firefighters were harmed.
MacCharles said he guesses approximately 40 to 50 of these canisters were fired into the surrounding area. Resident Ming Kwan mistook the sound for fireworks, and he wasn’t alone in the observation.
“I heard sirens and shortly after a sound like fireworks going off,” Heather Salikin wrote on the Blewett Bulletin Board Facebook page. “When I looked out my window I could see explosions of fire. It was very surreal.”
MacCharles said though the fire had a tragic outcome, the extinguishing effort and collaboration between departments went well.
“I was really impressed with how everyone was able to work together.”
AFTERMATH
By the time the Star arrived at the scene Sunday afternoon, acquaintances and residents were congregating at the base of the driveway. A neighbourhood child was holding a rescued cat while police officers and the coroner's service surveyed the wreckage.
And though some residents expressed concern for livestock on the property, it appeared no animals were harmed. Local residents were mournfully supporting one another behind the yellow police tape.
