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Man arrested following Upper Arrow Heights fire

Charges of arson are being considered against a Revelstoke man following a fire in Upper Arrow Heights Thursday night.
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A fire destroyed the front of a home on the 1500 block of Melnyk Road Thursday night.

Charges of arson are being considered against a Revelstoke man following a fire in Upper Arrow Heights Thursday night.

The incident began when RCMP were called to a disturbance on the 1500 block of Melnyk Road at around 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 3.

"We attended and located a fire in the basement of a residence," said Staff-Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky. "Immediately the police officers went into the house trying to determine if anybody was inside. They did locate one male in the back of the house.

"He was later arrested and may be facing charges of arson."

Meanwhile, 24 firefighters in four fire trucks and two command vehicles responded to attack the blaze. Firefighters attacked the blaze from the outside of the home, while an interior attack team entered the basement to extinguish the flames there. A second team entered the home to search the second floor, said fire chief Rob Girard in a news release.

"It was a tricky fire for our crews as there were a number of 20-pound propane bottles and various fuels in the basement of the residence, making for a potentially dangerous situation and explosive situation for our firefighters and the adjacent neighbouring homes” he said. “Our quick fire attack made all the difference on this fire.”

The lone male at the residence was arrested for causing a disturbance and the possibility he was responsible for the fire, said Grabinsky. Charges of arson are pending and the man is scheduled to appear in Salmon Arm court next week.

The fire remains under investigation by the RCMP and Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services.

This is the second fire at the home in a little more than two years. In June 2012, a man was burning material in his backyard when he left the fire unattended and it quickly spread and burnt down his shed. Girard said the two incidents are completely unrelated.