'Suspicious fire' that destroyed 2 Coquitlam homes believed to be arson, suspect arrested: RCMP

Coquitlam RCMP are investigating a fire that destroyed two homes Thursday night as suspicious. No one was injured, including a dog that inside during the fire and brought out to safety. (CTV)

A fire that destroyed two houses in Coquitlam on Thursday is being investigated as arson, and Mounties say they’ve arrested one suspect.

Deputy fire chief Scott Young says crews responded to a blaze in the River Springs neighbourhood around 11:20 p.m., to find two properties on Keith Place near Parkland Drive fully engulfed.

“Two of the homes were a total loss and there’s minor damage to an additional two homes on the exterior,” Young told CTV News on Friday morning. He says all of the occupants were outside of the homes when crews arrived, and 30 firefighters were involved in the hour-long battle.

Young says a dog was crated inside one of the homes, but crews were able to bring the pet out safely.

“The dog was in a smoky environment, but it appeared to be OK,” said Young.

It’s believed the fire was intentionally set at one home by someone who knew the occupants, Coquitlam RCMP wrote in a statement Friday.

“Officers were able to make a swift arrest of the suspect,” Sgt. Karrie Ellis said in the release.

“Intentionally setting a residence on fire shows a complete disregard for the safety of others,” she continued. “We are happy that no one was seriously injured.”

The owner of one of the burnt properties, Steven Parish, says he’s gutted by the loss of a home he’s had since 1989.

“It’s been a great house and we lived in it and we rented it out now. I’m gutted for the renters,” Parish told CTV News. “They are just devastated because they’ve lost everything, but luckily they all got out safe.”

Darren Berg, the strata council chairman for River Springs, calls the blaze “devastating.”

“We’re a very tight-knit community. There’s about 468 houses in this strata. This is the first large fire we’ve had in the 45 plus years River Springs has been here.”

He believes that, had firefighters not responded quickly, the neighbourhood could have lost up to four homes total.