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Shuswap Crime

RCMP believe Scotch Creek house fire may have been set by vigilantes

Sep 11, 2019 | 4:01 AM

SCOTCH CREEK, B.C. — RCMP say someone tried to set a problem North Shuswap home on fire Tuesday (Sept. 10).

According to a news release from Cpl. Scott Linklater of the Chase RCMP, members were called last night to a report of suspicious activity at the Hilliam Road home in Scotch Creek.

This is the same location of a shots fired complaint from Saturday (Sept. 7).

When officers arrived, no one was there but a fire had been started on a wall of the home.

Volunteers from the Scotch Creek and Celista fire departments were training not far away and responded quickly, extinguishing the fire.

RCMP say an investigation found the fire had been intentionally set, and officers are trying to track down who set it.

Linklater says police are concerned the arson at the building “is an escalation of the conflict between a group of local residents and the previous occupants of the house.”

Linklater goes on to say, “[t]he RCMP does not condone vigilantism and would recommend the public to leave investigations to the police.”

Anyone with information on the investigation is asked to contact Chase RCMP at (250) 679-3221 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.