Isolated community scrambles after fire guts only grocery store RCMP is investigating cause of fire, which it terms 'suspicious'
BY KEVIN GRIFFIN, VANCOUVER SUNJULY 13, 2013 http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Isolated+community+scrambles+after+fire+guts+only+grocery/8656157/story.html Bella Bella, B.C.'s third-largest First Nations community with a population of 2,500, has no road access to the mainland but does have a ferry and airport. Photograph by: Les Bazso, PNG Files, Vancouver SunThe remote community of Bella Bella on the central coast of B.C. is reeling after its main community building, housing the only grocery store and post office, was destroyed in a fire early Friday. No one was injured in the fire that started some time around 3 a.m., said Marilyn Slett, chief councillor for the Heiltsuk First Nation, which owns the building. "It's devastating to our community," Slett said in a phone interview from Bella Bella. "It's the heart of our community. It's a bit surreal right now." She said the province's thirdlargest First Nations community of 2,500 is rallying to support the cleanup efforts. "Our primary concerns are restoring the essential services to our community," she said. Slett said the building is so severely damaged it isn't salvageable. She had no estimate on the cost of the fire damage. The building housed the Waglisla Band Store, post office, liquor store and café. Slett said she's working on setting up a temporary grocery store in the United Church in Bella Bella. Bella Bella is on Campbell Island on Lama Passage in the Great Bear Rainforest. It has no road access to the mainland. Described as the Gateway to the Rainforest, the community has a BC Ferries terminal and an airport with regular flights to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, which is 181 kilometres to the south. Slett said the Heiltsuk Nation building that burned down is about 35 years old. The fire will have an economic impact on the community because of the 30 to 50 people who worked in the businesses and organizations in the building, Slett said. "We're trying to set up plans for our staff," she said. "It employs a lot of people in our community. We have to look at people who were supporting their families." Sgt. Glen Caston, of the Bella Bella RCMP, said police are investigating the cause of the fire. "It was a suspicious fire," he said. "We don't have a cause for the fire - that's what I mean by suspicious." He said that the fire was "absolutely devastating" for the community. He called it an important meeting place in Bella Bella. "This is a very resilient community," he said. "There are plans already to get past this." kevingrif...@vancouversun.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Native News North List info{all lists}: http://nativenewsonline.org/natnews.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: natnews-north-dig...@yahoogroups.com natnews-north-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: natnews-north-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
