Shuswap standoff leads to house fire

Dec 21, 2015 | 9:57 AM

EAGLE BAY — Some serious drama unfolded in the normally-sleepy Shuswap community of Eagle Bay overnight.

It began at about 10pm Sunday December 20, when Salmon Arm RCMP were called to a tense disturbance at a home where a man was brandishing knives.

Officers removed two people from the home, but the man causing the trouble didn’t obey police and stayed inside, smashing windows and making threats.

During the standoff RCMP were forced to use fire extinguishers on three separate occasions to take care of small fires the man had set.

The situation ended this morning, December 21, when the man finally set the entire home on fire.

The suspect was arrested as he tried to crawl out of a window.

The home was completely destroyed by the blaze, but no one was hurt in the ordeal.

Fire Chief Allen Rendell says there’s not much left, it’s pretty much completely wiped out.

“Pretty much yes.  There’s a couple of walls standing but that is pretty much it.”

Rendell says the residents didn’t own the house.

“It was being rented I believe. There are people without a house at the moment as far as I understand. I am still trying to get to the bottom of the residence, etc.”