Firefighters end up in physical altercation after responding to call last night
By Kyra Hoggan
Police are recommending assault charges against a Castlegar man after he allegedly assaulted Castlegar Fire Chief Gerry Rempel last night.
Rempel says he answered a call just before 9 p.m., in which a resident (whose name will not be released until/unless the Crown files formal charges) had a fire that was too large to be legal.
“I attended, and there were numerous prohibited items burning,” he said, confirming that there was a couch, electrical fixtures, etc., in the fire. Those items are prohibited for burning both under city bylaws and Ministry of Environment regulations. “It was a sizeable fire.”
Rempel said he has attended this same residence on several occasions to deal with illegal fires.
“I advised the individual that we’d be putting the fire out and we would be billing him for the call,” he said, explaining the resident then got his own hose and proceeded to begin dousing the conflagration himself.
“When fire crews arrived (including five firefighters), (the resident) turned his hose on the fire crews,” Rempel said. “I pinched the hose, stopping the flow of water.”
At this point, the resident allegedly attacked Rempel.
“A physical altercation ensued, and firefighters subdued and restrained (the man) until police arrived,” Rempel said.
Rempel sustained minor injuries, but no one else was hurt.
Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Dan Pollock confirmed that the man had been arrested and released, and police are recommending assault charges. Pollock also said alcohol was a factor in the incident.
Rempel said he’s encountered many angry people, but it’s rare for calls to escalate to actual violence.
“I’ve been threatened on several occasions, and I’ve been bit by dogs a couple of times,” he said. “But by and large, most people are great.
“It’s part of the job, when you work in emergency services,” he added. “You never know from one minute to the next what might happen.”
Rempel said he was proud of the professionalism and restraint his firefighters exercised in dealing with such a potentially volatile situation.
The man was issued a ticket for a prohibited fire, and is slated to appear in Castlegar court on Oct. 10.
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