WESTLOCK – Westlock RCMP are looking for two men who they say poured gasoline on a pickup truck parked in a locked business compound and set it ablaze.
Westlock RCMP Detachment acting commander Cpl. Riley Sutherland confirmed June 8 that the overnight June 1 fire at Precision Classic Restoration and Collision Repair, located at 10343 – 106th Street, that destroyed the truck and damaged a handful of other vehicles was arson. In a previous interview, Town of Westlock fire chief Stuart Koflick said they when they arrived around 4:20 a.m., June 1, they found the pickup truck fully engulfed and were able to extinguish it in “10 or 15 minutes.” Koflick, who performed the on-scene investigation, confirmed the fire started in the truck, while there was “exposure damage” to two or three other nearby vehicles, as well as some other equipment and estimates there was probably around $10,000 in damages.
“It’s definitely an arson. There are two male suspects who can be seen (via video surveillance) pouring gasoline onto the vehicle and the inside of it and then lighting it,” said Sutherland. “Now it’s about us trying to identify who they are, so the investigation is ongoing at this stage.”
Old Timers Cabin fire remains unsolved
The June 1 fire is one of handful of suspicious blazes authorities have responded to in 2023 as a pickup truck was torched on 107th Street, just west of 104th Avenue, in the early-morning hours of Jan. 19, while on Jan. 31, the Old Timers Cabin, on the Westlock Agricultural Society’s property on the west side of town just off the Old Pickardville Road, was gutted by a deliberately-set overnight fire.
In late March, Sutherland confirmed that “accelerants” were used to burn the cabin, which elevated it to a full-blown arson investigation which is currently ongoing. In that case there is no video surveillance at the site which Sutherland said, “ … makes it slightly more challenging for us.”
People with tips on any of the recent fires are encouraged to call the detachment at 780-349-4492, while if you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.
