B.C. builder believes equipment being targeted by arsonist

Builder believes equipment being targeted by arsonist

Kelowna Capital News [British Columbia]
Published: November 25, 2008 10:00 PM

The manager of a controversial construction site in Peachland says he is positive a fire last week that caused $250,000 in damage is the work of an arsonist.

“At first I thought we had been robbed and then I saw the fire trucks here,” said Dustin Dobbin, field operations manager for Wiltech Developments Inc.

Dobbin said he knew something was going on when he arrived at work at 6:45 a.m.

“It’s definitely arson,” said Dobbin. “It’s 100 per cent.”

The blaze took place at a construction site above Victoria Street where crews have been blasting and moving earth for several months in preparation for a 39-lot, single-family home subdivision.

Peachland Fire and Rescue Service received a call from the 911 dispatch center at 5:20 a.m., according to Fire Chief Grant Topham.

A neighbour in the area of Victoria Street saw the fire and called it in, said Topham.

When fire crews arrived at the scene, one excavator was fully engulfed in flames and the other was well on its way, according to Topham.

The two excavators were parked at the top of the property, side by side, and not visible from the road below.

The fires seemed to have been set on the battery compartment sides of the excavators. One is a total write off at about $200,000, according to Dobbin, while the other machine suffered about $50,000 in damage.

Dobbin said the site had been blocked off by a large log across an access road since about 2:45 p.m. Friday and whoever caused the damage likely gained access on foot.

RCMP was called to the scene and responding officers called in a police Ident team to look for evidence, including fingerprints.

Monday’s blaze was the most serious and damaging incident since work began at the construction site in August.

But it isn’t the first act of vandalism, according to Dobbin.

“We’ve had graffiti,” said Dobbin, noting the excavator that is a write off has been the canvass for graffiti on two instances. Two other pieces of equipment have also had graffiti written on them.

Graffiti on the equipment was not typical teenage art, according to Dobbin, who said the word “Kaboom” has been painted on his construction machines.

Dobbin said he has had near constant complaints since his company began working on the project and the majority of the complaints come from four people.

While RCMP investigates the suspected arson case, Dobbin said the construction project will be behind schedule. “I’m down two excavators.”

Dobbin said Monday he wasn’t sure if insurance would cover his company’s loss and that he was scheduled to speak with an adjuster that afternoon.

It isn’t clear why someone would set fire to the two excavators but Dobbin said he’s just a contractor, not the developer.

“We were low tender on a contract issued by an engineering firm in Kelowna,” said Dobbin.

“Here we are doing our job and it’s been one thing after another.”