Sechelt resident Joseph Dooks says when a noise woke him up at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, he realized it was the sound of someone running through the bushes near his apartment.
Looking out his window, Dooks saw a man run towards the delivery vans parked in the lot within Wharf Plaza and watched as the man attempted to light one of the vehicles on fire. Dooks ran out of his apartment and started to chase the man, but then stopped to turn his attention to the van.
“l almost chased the fella down, but turned to the truck instead to call the fire department,” Dooks told Coast Reporter. “If I had not gotten up to check, the van most likely would have exploded.”
He adds, his two children asleep upstairs just metres away, were his top priority. In a Facebook post, Dooks said the man was wearing a light-blue hoodie, dark jeans and white shoes.
“Almost caught him, but he booked it near Batch 44 [brew house],” Dooks wrote.
Steve Achterberg, deputy chief of prevention for the Sechelt Fire Department, said the fire was in the parking lot behind 5530 Wharf Ave. He noted by the time the fire department arrived the blaze was isolated to the driver’s side mirror.
“Our battalion arrived to see the driver-side mirror on fire, which they put out with a fire extinguisher and then notified RCMP,” said Achterberg, who is the investigator on the case. “We investigate all fires, but with that, there's really not much to investigate. We know where the fire started and we know it was suspicious, but that's all we know at this time. We don't follow up with any criminal charges. That's all through the RCMP.”
A news release from the Sunshine Coast RCMP said they are investigating the report of a vehicle arson, which occurred March 30 at 2:04 a.m.
The release said police responded to the 5500 block of Wharf Ave. in response to a report of a male spraying an unknown substance on a white Mercedes-Benz sprinter van before lighting it on fire.
“Sechelt Fire attended and put the fire out while police made patrols looking for an individual wearing a light blue hoody and dark pants,” the release continued.
Police are asking the public if there are any witnesses or video that could have captured the incident to please get in touch. Anyone walking in that area and who has not already spoken with police, are asked to call the RCMP at 604-885-2266 and quote file number 2025-2161.
