(l-r) Director of Protective Services Greg Peters, and firefighters Bruce Wade and Peter Gruber assess the damage to the Horseshoe Facility on Saturday morning. The investigation into the overnight blaze continues. photo O.R. Sheddy.
Investigators have determined that a fire that destroyed the Drumheller Horseshoe Club facility in Centennial Park was suspicious in nature.
Drumheller Firefighters responded to the blaze at about 1 a.m. October 18, to the building that sits behind the Drumheller Memorial Arena.
Upon arrival at the scene, the building was totally engulfed in fire. The facility and its contents were completely destroyed.
Fire investigators and police were at the scene Saturday morning to begin the fire investigation.
Fire Chief Bill Bachynski explained fire investigators look for things such as cause of ignition, locations of damage, contributing fuels, and any other clues that could determine how or why a fire started.
“We look for heavier burns and many other different things during a fire investigation,” he explains. “It is a specialized field, and investigators go through a lot of training to learn this.”
“You start with reconstructing the scene prior to the fire - that is the basis. And then you move forward using the process of elimination.”
Bachynski explains in this case, investigators have determined a point of origin of the fire, but have not determined its ignition source.
When there is a fire, Drumheller’s RCMP are notified and form part of the emergency response. Police are on scene during the fire, and continue with the investigation that follows. In this case, the fire is considered suspicious, and the investigation continues.
“It is a long process, and there are many different phases as we work through the investigation,” said the fire chief.
