EaglE VallEy
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Police report no injuries with grounded boat Page 2
Hockey school students have fun on/off ice Pages 6 and 7
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 PM40008236
Vol. 55 No. 34 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Charges laid in death of man found on road By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
Sicamous RCMP continue to gather details relating to the death of a 49-year-old local man whose body was found last Wednesday lying on Main Street. A local woman, Christina Laforge, 46, has since been charged in relation to the Aug. 14 death of Troy Charlton. Laforge was arrested on Aug. 15, and has since been charged with criminal negligence causing death and impaired driving causing death. She is scheduled to appear in Salmon Arm Provincial Court in mid-September. Initially, police suggested a vehicle may have been involved in the death. As of Monday, Aug. 20, Sicamous Sgt. Dave Dubnyk was reluctant to release further details, noting police are still gathering and sorting through statements in the investigation. On Wednesday morning, at approximately 2:30 a.m., an officer on patrol found Charlton’s severely-injured body lying on the road. He was immediately rushed to hospital in Salmon Arm, where he died from his injuries. Alcohol was later confirmed to have been a factor in the incident that led to Charlton’s death. Dubnyk said he may be able to release more details from the investigation later this week.
Investigation scene: Sicamous RCMP, with assistance from Salmon Arm RCMP’s general investigation section, Revelstoke’s forensic identification unit, traffic services and a traffic accident reconstructionist, investigate what led to the death of 49-year-old Sicamous resident Troy Charlton after his severely-injured body was found lying on Main Street last Wednesday. Photos by Kelly Dick
Sicamous firefighters quick to control bush blaze by Bayview By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
The Sicamous fire department made fairly quick work of a brush fire Saturday near Bayview Estates. Fire Chief Brett Ogino says the department received the call-out at 7:30 p.m. Smoke was spotted by someone across Highway 97A at the Legacy. “Initially, the call came in from their address, but we could see the smoke on the end of one of the roads off of Bayview,” said Ogino. “So, we went up to it and could see it was just above a house… and it was a slow-moving brush fire, but with potential to go up the hill because obviously it’s fairly steep
along there. The crews got on it and did a good job knocking it down quickly and containing it to an area of about 50- by 70-feet.” Ogino said there was a lot of smoke, and thankfully only a small breeze. “It could have got nasty, we were fortunate it was the day before because I guess Sunday was really windy in town.” Malakwa Fire Chief Joanne Held was in the area and stopped to assist with the fire. Crews were onsite until about 9 p.m. putting out the fire and keeping it in check, making sure it didn’t spread anymore and protecting the house, which was a little under 100 feet away from the activity.
As of Monday, the cause of the fire was undetermined. “The initial report was that the caller had seen fireworks up there the night before, but we weren’t able to locate any indication of fireworks and there was no cause that we could locate,” said Ogino. “There was certainly no fireworks we could see in that area, but who knows.” The fire chief warns that despite recent rain, the fire danger rating remains high and a campfire ban is still in place. “People seem to think, ‘oh, the fire ban is off, it’s rained once,’” laughs Ogino. “That’s not the case – it’s still extremely dry out there.”
Support: Malakwa Fire Chief Joanne Held gives Sicamous firefighter Shane McKellar a hand while knocking out a fire. Photo by Kelly Dick