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By Victor Kaisar

School Fire

UPDATE: Kamloops RCMP probe suspicious overnight fire at Westmount Elementary

Oct 26, 2025 | 7:24 AM

KAMLOOPS — (UPDATE 1:45 p.m.): Kamloops RCMP are probing a suspicious fire at Westmount Elementary School that police say appears to have been intentionally set.

“It appears that there was someone on the roof of the school when the fire broke out,” Kamloops RCMP S/Sgt. Chris Kienzle said. “The fire is believed to be intentionally set, and our investigation is ongoing.”

“We are still holding that scene because we do believe that fire to be criminal in nature. We’re just waiting on some more resources to come in sometime [Monday] to have a better look at it.”

Kienzle confirms police were also called to the school at 745 Walkem Road early Sunday (Oct. 26) morning. Nearly two dozen firefighters were also paged around 1:00 a.m. to help extinguish the blaze on the roof of the building.

“There were some local neighbours that did see a bright flash of light and then we were called to the fire, so we do believe that its suspicious in nature and that it was intentionally set. Currently, we do not have a suspect identified.”

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In a statement, the Kamloops-Thompson School District (SD73) said a “rapid response” from Kamloops Fire Rescue meant the fire was quickly extinguished.

At this time, the extent of the damage caused either by fire or water is also not known, but the district has confirmed that the school building will remain closed until further notice.

Westmount students and staff will be out of school Monday (Oct. 27), and work is underway to relocate them to a nearby school so classes can resume on Tuesday.

This is the second school building in Kamloops to catch fire in the past six years. A rebuilt Parkcrest Elementary School opened last year, after the former building was completely destroyed in September 2019.

Police are asking potential witnesses to contact the Kamloops RCMP Detachment at 250-828-3000 and reference file 2025-35751.

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