Kamloops RCMP is investigation an early morning fire that damaged the side of the building that houses Social Butterflies on Seymour Street (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

EARLY MORNING FIRE

Suspicious fire in downtown Kamloops forces non-profit agency to shutter

Jun 19, 2020 | 4:32 PM

KAMLOOPS — Chantal White is dealing with the aftermath of an early morning fire. The director of Social Butterflies on Seymour Street is devastated that parts of the building are damaged and programs are forced to temporarily shut down.

“We aren’t able to run programs, mainly because of the smell,” she said, standing in one of the playrooms that reeked of smoke. “Some of the kids we work with are very hypersensitive to different smells and I think this would be upsetting for them.”

The fire was ignited at 3:00 on Friday morning (June 19), set on the outside of the building. Kamloops Fire Rescue got it out quickly.

“It’s a suspicious fire because it’s against a side of a building and it’s reported as such because there’s no reason for a fire to start there, meaning there was no electrical, there was not a car parked there. It was human-lit and the placement of that fire causes some concern,” said Platoon Cpt. Troy Grant of Kamloops Fire Rescue.

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Kamloops RCMP has taken over the investigation. It’s not the first time Social Butterflies has been targeted. The organization, which helps children who deal with autism and other diverse abilities, says there’s been theft and vandalism before.

“We’ve been in this location for about a year and a half. We’ve ran into problems with having needles and different clothing items, groceries, garbage taken out of the trash can. We had our garage broken into, tools stolen,” noted White.

White doesn’t know how long it’ll be out of operation on Seymour Street. It’s another hiccup after a long hiatus due to COVID-19.

“It’s a huge stress for families not to have this place open. We had to close down for a couple months because of the COVID pandemic,” said White. “We transitioned them back to the building and the kids are starting to settle in and get their routines built up, and now we’ve had to interrupt their routines. A lot of our kids have special needs — autism and other diverse needs — and those routines are really important to them.”

Social Butterflies has another location at the Kamloops Christian School and plans to send some children there while clean-up happens at the Seymour Street location.

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact Kamloops RCMP.