Podunk Below the Masthead (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)

A Fire call to the east side, an investigation into Arson down town and a motorcycle and a deer meet on Park Avenue, some of the news items for Tuesday.

Daily News, Front page, headline story
RUPERT'S SECOND FIRE IN FOUR DAYS HITS CEDAR RIDGE APARTMENTS-- Deatils of the latest fire call for Prince Rupert Fire Rescue as the city's Fire Department responded to a Monday morning fire at the Cedar Ridge Apartments.

Fire continues to be the theme on the front page with an update on the investigation into the Epicurean fire of Friday morning, with arson now determined as the cause of the blaze that left a number of Rupertites homeless.

And Haida leaders were in Victoria last week as the process of the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act was introduced and began to work its way through the Legislature.

And a collision between a motorcyclist and a deer was featured on page five as details of the accident along a stretch of Park Avenue were presented in the Tuesday edition.

The Sports section featured a review of the track and field season so far as local high school athletes got off to a successful start.

(Daily News Archive Items Tuesday, May 4, 2010)

Rupert’s second fire in four days hits Cedar Ridge apartments
Arson determined in Epicurean fire
Rural B.C. butchers finally get their rights back
Historic moment for aboriginal people results in Haida Gwaii getting its name back
Collision with deer injures man 


The Northern View
North Coast has yet to reach required signatures on anti-HST petition-- The Anti HST collective has a bit of work ahead as Prince Rupert and the North coast gets off to a slow start in their petition drive (see article here)

The Northern View
Council debates fee hikes -- More commentary on potential fee increases by members of city council (see article here)

The Northern View 
North Pacific set for new season -- A new tourist season beckons for the North Pacific Historical site in Port Edward (see article here)

The Northern View 
Make Kitimat the Asian Gateway, council told - If a Kitimat resident has his way, Prince Rupert will lose its status as the Gateway to Asia (see article here)

The Northern View
Nisga’a, former premiers reflect on treaty 10 years later-- A look back at a history making moment in BC history (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
No new items were posted to the CFTK TV 7 site for Tuesday

CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North 
No new items were posted to the Daybreak site for Tuesday 

Daybreak North is only posting selected items on their website now. The most recently posted items can be found on the archive page for Daybreak North click here

The Daily News Front page, headline story
Rupert’s second fire in four days hits Cedar Ridge apartments
Suspicious fire inflicts damage on one particular town home in the area. 
By George T. Baker
Staff Writer
Prince Rupert Daily News


Residents of the Epicurean building thought they were safe from another fire.


But after a weekend of displacement, some who were moved to the Cedar Ridge Apartments on the city’s east end were given another fright as a town home at that complex was destroyed by fire early Monday evening.


The cause of the fire remains undetermined but the location of its lighting has been resolved. That said, three residents were out of a home as of this morning.


Fire Chief Dave McKenzie told the Daily News that the fire began on a couch on the main floor. Though three residents are said to have lived in the home, only one was present at the time of the fire.


“We don’t know if it was set deliberately or if it was an accident. We aren’t leaning one way or the other right now,” said McKenzie.


As fire crew worked on the aftermath of the fire, children were playing on the lawn in front of the building, which in a way pointed out how much worse the fire could have been.


The fire was contained to the one town home, which suffered only interior damage. McKenzie ball parked the financial damage at $70,000.


“There are no structural problems, only smoke damage and stuff such as drywall,” reported McKenzie.


Much like Friday morning’s fire at the Epicurean, Monday’s blaze caused the resident to flee after it burned out of control.


Residents, including the children playing on the lawn, say they witnessed a man wearing all black, standing about 5’7”, running southwest through a shortcut down to Seal Cove School from the fire.


Prince Rupert RCMP are currently questioning a male about the cause of the fire, but no charges have been levied yet.


“I have seen open pot smoking at the front door, they always have bongs there. I have lived here since September and I’ve seen it all the time,” said 27-year old resident Holly Green, who lived right across from where the fire occurred.


However, McKenzie said firemen discovered no drug paraphernalia on the site.


It seems to be feast or famine for the Prince Rupert fire department, which hadn’t had much in the way of fires in the past few months, but now have faced two in four days.


This fire featured heavy pea soup-coloured smoke, which usually results from burning synthetic material and chemicals, billowing out of both floors.


 “This is the kind of stuff that can kill firemen. It can really affect your lungs,” said McKenzie of the kind of fire they faced. Shockingly, the fire occurred at one of the buildings residents of the former Epicurean restaurant building were transferred to over the weekend.


One woman, who asked not to be identified, said that she had moved into the Cedar Ridge last weekend, and that she feared this fire would have spread, too.