Wednesday April 22, 2015 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST Included
Call to witness halts trial houseboat fatality: ‘Loyalty to the Crown’ prompts officer to meddle in defence case. By tim petruk KAMlOOPS THIS WeeK
The B.c. Supreme court trial of a man accused of recklessly driving his speedboat into a houseboat on Shuswap lake in 2010 has ground to a halt to allow lawyers to investigate claims a police officer meddled this week in the defence case out of “loyalty to the crown” — something the judge called “concerning.” leon Reinbrecht’s trial on one count each of criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm has been ongoing since early February. Ken Brown was killed in a July 3, 2010 collision on Shuswap lake following a postcanada day fireworks display. Brown was at the helm of a 14-metre houseboat when it was struck nearly straight-on by a speedboat. Leon Reinbrecht RcMP cpl. Richard Accused of Harry spent three days negligence this week giving evidence for the crown. He is an expert in marinevessel collisions and was one of the investigators dispatched to the wreckage of the 2010 crash. during his cross-examination of Harry, defence lawyer Joe doyle found out the officer placed a phone call on Wednesday to a canadian coast Guard supervisor to inquire about a defence witness. Justin Beaumont is an employee of the canadian coast Guard and is also an expert in marine accident reconstruction. He has been retained by Reinbrecht’s defence team to give expert evidence See evidence on page A2
Randy Lewis photo
Fully engulfed: Members of the Silver Creek Fire Department are on scene during a massive blaze in a Silver Creek barn, which contained hay and a legal marijuana grow operation. Firefighters could not save the barn, but prevented the blaze from spreading.
Fire razes Silver Creek barn By Barb Brouwer OBSeRVeR STAFF
A massive fire accompanied by several explosions levelled a Silver creek barn that housed a legal marijuana grow operation and stored hay. But two adult residents, five fullgrown horses, a week-old filly, a donkey and several chickens were unharmed. columbia Shuswap Regional Fire chief Kenn Mount says the first call reporting a fully involved structure fire in the 1100 block of Salmon River Road was sounded at 9:11 p.m. Monday, April 20. Sixteen Silver creek firefighters were on scene within 10 minutes and managed to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby structures. Firefighters, including a rehab team, police, ambulance and emergency social services were on scene for about four hours, he says.
This week Ducklings are expected to arrive in downtown Salmon Arm. Find out more on A2. The Wild Soles running series opens at Little Mountain Park. See A16.
Mount explains firefighters had to deal with a downed power line that had been attached to the barn and waited 90 minutes for Bc Hydro to arrive. “It’s a challenge, it limits what we can do,” he says. “The guys did a good job; it was a bit of a stubborn fire being a bigger-type farm structure with a known legal grow operation.” Mount says grow ops present complex issues because of massive electrical systems and, in this case, added fuel in the form of hay, along with the marijuana plants and “other unknowns.” To deal with these complex fires, cSRd has developed a pre-incident plan gleaned from its own development services department. “We do our best to have some level of awareness be it a marina, gas station, or legal grow operation,” he says. “We work with the bylaw inspection officer during the licensing process.” Mount says, in this case, there is noth-
ing much left to investigate as the barn burned down to the foundation. As to the cause, he says, “it’s highly possible it’s related to the function of the building.” Mount says there is no clear indication of who was operating the grow op – the owner or the tenant. Meanwhile, tenant erik Backstrom says he and his wife Ashley were watching TV when they noticed the glow on their wall and rushed out to see the barn engulfed and neighbours already leading the horses to a safe paddock. “The community really saved it; they couldn’t save the barn but they saved the fire from spreading,” he said. Backstrom says his supplier can provide him with about a week’s worth of hay for his horses, which he will store in a smaller shelter for the interim. Anyone who can donate or spare a bale or two until the couple can get back on their feet, may call Backstrom at 604754-5756.
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Sports................A15-A18 Arts & Events ... A19-A21 Time Out................... A22 Vol. 108, No. 16, 40 pages