A pair of house fires in Onion Lake Cree Nation have been deemed suspicious.
According to police, the fires took place on February 23, 2017, between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The first fire was in the Sesame Park area around 3:00 a.m., and the second occurred in the same area just before 5:00 a.m.
106.1 The Goat spoke to Onion Lake resident Bobbie-Lee Wright, whose home was damaged in the fires. According to Wright, the house has been left uninhabitable.
“There’s nothing left to salvage,” said Wright.
“I tried to salvage a few of my son’s hockey medals, and most of the pictures are all melted. There’s nothing left.”
Wright put the damage to her home at around $10,000 or more,
“The material things, they can be replaced, but all the pictures and stuff like that, those are irreplaceable,” said Wright.
“It just really sucks at this point.”
Wright said that she was happy with way her community had come together to help after the incident, and was thankful for her neighbour, who had alerted her to the fire.
“The support from our leaders and community is overwhelming,” said Wright
“I can’t stress that enough. Lots of hugs and donations have been offered so far from our band members. Onion Lake is an awesome community, just a few bad apples.”
She also warned Onion Lake residents to be vigilant, in the wake of the incident.
“Keep your doors locked,” said Wright.
“Everybody watch out for one another, watch for any suspicious activity. If it wasn’t for my neighbour, I wouldn’t have a shell of my house left. Thankfully, she was out, and looking out. I’m thankful for my community coming together. It’s hard right now, but it’s not the end of the world. I’ll get back on my feet, we’ll be ok.”
The investigation is still ongoing, and both fires have been deemed suspicious. If anyone has information on the fires, or any other crime, they are asked to contact the Onion Lake RCMP at 306-344-5550, or if they wish to remain anonymous, they can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).