110 recent fires investigated by 1N. Van fire, police departments BY IAN NOBLE News Reporter FIREFIGHTERS and police believe as many as 10 fires in North Vancouver over a two-month period may be linked. North Vancouver City Fire and Rescue assistant chief Dave Burgess told the News two more arson fires on the weekend may be related to others, including a $250,000 July 11 blaze on West 19th Street. Burgess and the police say they have information they are not cur- rently prepared to share. “We have a couple of leads we are following,” said Burgess. “We don’t have any names at this time.” At one fire, a couple of youths were: spotted by eyewitnesses, he _ added, The fires may have been set by one person or a group of individuals f if they are related, said Burgess. ~ However, the possibility they are not connected has not been ruled out, he said. “-. City firefighters are talking to the District of North Vancouver Fire Services to determine if there are any similarities between district and city fires. However, that’s something that is often done anyway, said. Burgess. - Burgess said one or more arson- ists set the North Vancouver City -alibrary,on fire on Sunday morning at 30 a.m. The 121 West | 4th building uffered damage to a door. 4 canopy and library siding. The fire had start- to'spread inside the building when firefighters ° arrived and doused the Jus the second Jibrary fire withis eight weeks and had the potential te do alot of damage. said Burgess. Another potemially serious fire snuffed out by firefighters occurred in the 100-block of West 1Suh Street curly Monday morning. Arsonists it wooden pallets ablaze outside the industrial-commercial complex. Damage estimates have not been received for either of the weekend fires. said Burgess, The only difference between the library and West 15th fires and the destructive West 19th fire was that firefighters put the first bvo out earti- er, said Burgess. All had the potential to cause major damage, he said. Burgess is worried the city may be seeing an escalation in those types of arsons. North Vancouver RCMP Corp. Marlon Dawiskiba agreed that quick response by the fire department pre- vented substantial damage to the library. Dawiskiba is in the fraud section. which investigates artsons for the RCMP in North Vancouver. He said the police are pursuing leads on a few of the fires, but would not elaborate. Burgess said that in North Vancouver City, there are approxi- mately 60 fires a month and about a dozen arsons. He said the 10 fires believed to be related began May 23. Since then, there have also been seven arsons believed to be unrelated. Meanwhile, North Vancouver District firefighters responded to a fire at Brooksbank ‘school playing field Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. A portable . toilet; valued at between $2,500 and $3,000 was completely destroyed by arsonists, said fire department manager of com- munity safety Brian Stegavig. NEWS photo hike Waketleid ALEX the fire Lab pinpoints fire accelerant during a demonstra- . tion on Monday with handler and district firefighter Simon dung. abducted tot taken to Iran A three-y éar-old boy w was abducted i in North Vancouver by his non-custodi- ‘father. on Sunday and taken to Iran, ut local: ‘police can do little about it. e-spent a lot of time looking for him on the ower Mainland ... ft came'as a surprise to every- ne: that this person had the intention of leaving the country,” said North Vancouver RCMP Const. Catherine Galliford. ndex @ Around Town.......... @ Business. eesentecsenvnseateas ww 24 ‘Bi Doug Collins & Crossword. oceaseeen possesses | Fashion 4 Insights Water is aff, classes for the two local French _ The North Vancouver Mounties did not release the man’s name to press time. . The 41-year-old was charged with threatening his child’s mother in April. tess than a month after the couple were divorced, said Galliford. The criminal court case, she suid, was to have been heard in Vancouver proviucial court in August. Shortly atter midnight on Monday, the boy's frantic mother called police saying that her ex- husband failed to bring the child home by 6 p.m. The visit was to conclude by that time, accord ing to a Canadian court order. Police fiere were looking for the father at his previous addresses in West Vancouver. North Vancouver and Burnaby. They say the father’s sister in tsfahan, fran, phoned on Monday to say the child had arrived in that country. Mounties said they spoke to the suspected abductor who said the child was safe and will be bathtub. “raised in fran. The child was born'in Canada. His | parenis have lived in Canada for five years. There : ‘ are no other children from the marriage. Police said the father, with a criminal charge pending in Canada, had'a one-way ticket to Iran and no fegal documentation for the Canadian child when he left the country. Police have rec-' .ominended charges of abduction be iaid in con-™. nection with the contravention of a Canadian cus- tedy order. They have asked that a Canada-wide ; warrant be issued for the man. 7 _ The father’s name will not be released by . police until he is charged. - The provincial ‘attorney general’ $ office advised investigators that fran will not be cooper- ative in the case. ‘ North Vancouver Reform MP Ted White said ' Tuesday it was the first time that he had been informed of such a situation in his riding. A spokesman in: Foreign Affairs in Otaws was unavailable for comment to press time, Quebec floods trap BY IAN NOBLE News Reporter TWO West Vancouver residents caught in deadly flooding in Quebec are safe but, like their Quebecois hosts. are suffering deprivations. teeth for two days. Fortunately, Crum’s, host had the foresight to save a deep tubful of water in the The water is used to flush the toilet. Crum said she looks for- ward to a shower. “You don't you need water until you lose it.” realize how much she said. Drinking water is pur- chased. WEST Vancouver's Kristi Cave saw homes swept away by Quebec rivers. Vancouver secondary, is studying French in Senquiere, just west of Chicoutiini. She's seen homes float past her college and lois of destrue- tion, The dorms where she’s staying have filled with dis- @ Mailbox... 1 North Shore Alert....4 4“ Sports . MTV Listings Noel Wright... students have been cancelled) and the threat of more rain has residents of the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region north of Quebee worried. . Mary Crum, a teacher at Fromme elementary, is in Chicoutimi, where people have been forced out of the downtown area by [ooding. Crum said her French lessons at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi have been cancelled and the city has cut off water 10 homes. On Monday, Crum said she had not brushed her Crum said she's living ubout 10 minutes by car away from the flooded downtown district, which the police won't let citizens near. She said the city of 64.000 suf- fered from a 15G-millimetre (six-inch) deluge of rain in three days. On Sunday, all stares remained closed even though they are usually open in the afternoon. Kristi Cave. a recent graduate of West placed residents. On Monday, the water in the taps was bright orange. She's nat sure why. She noted other far- fetched events, such as washing machines floating by in the river. On Sunday, she watehed buildings fall into the river. “Is kind of neat,” Kristi said, adding a candlelight card game. was interrupted by smoke alarms. :