KAMLOOPS — UPDATE — A fire last night badly damaged the basement of a North Shore home that is well known to police.
The fire is being investigated by both RCMP and Kamloops Fire.
Platoon Captain Darryl Cooper says neighbours reported an explosion that shook the home at 217 Nelson Avenue early last evening.
When fire crews arrived, he says they found smoke coming from the basement.
Because of previous problems at the home, Cooper says fire crews took a defensive approach until they could determine the home was safe to enter.
At that time, crews put the blaze out in fairly short order. He says the basement received substantial damage.
The home had been the scene of a shooting last October, and had been a home well known to police for some time.
Police had been working with the homeowner to get rid of previous tenants, and it was believed the home was becoming more stable.
The blaze is being treated as suspicious, and arson is believed to be a possibility, although nothing has been confirmed at this point.
A basement window was found broken, and police investigators and fire officials will be examining the home more thoroughly later this morning.
EARLIER — Kamloops Fire Rescue battled a blaze at a notorious North Shore address tonight (Wednesday).
The fire was reported at 217 Nelson Avenue, a home that was the site of a shooting last October.
The address was singled out by RCMP as an example of what can happen when a landlord rents to criminals, and was later searched as part of a hunt for a man suspected of pointing a gun at RCMP members.
Later, the property owner pledged to turn around the home’s dubious reputation in the neighbourhood.
The cause of the fire is not clear.
