Did anybody read the article in the paper yesterday regarding the Brookbanks building fire of 1990? What a horrible tragedy! My heart goes out to Patty. It is also really pathetic that somebody goes and steals the flowers that Patty leaves in rememberance.
One of Prince Rupert’s most tragic fires, hopefully Mr. Bakers article (very well done by the way) will trigger some memories and bring forward some new information to solve the crime and bring some comfort to those left behind.
You can read that article on the Daily news website, scroll down to the third story
20 years… wow. I went to high school with Pauline. I really hope some day they find whoever did this.
That was a truly terrible day. Such a tragedy. There was one other death, the much loved pet of the couple who owned the print shop on the main level of the business, one more innocent killed. The stench, the smouldering ruins and the sad realisation that it was no accident, that someone set the fire deliberately…I don’t have many horrible memories of Rupert but this one is at the top of my list, I would have to say.
So it was an apartment building with a store on the main level? I didn’t live in Prince Rupert at the time and am just trying to understand what happened in this fire. Where in the building did the fire start? The article mentioned that a fire accelerant was used and that this building was ‘targeted’ before. I don’t get arson…why would somebody want to burn down an apartment building, with people living in it, intentionally?
if i can recall was it not a linnen and bath shop called comfort zone?
no that linen shop was in the brick building!
please be sensitive on this topic many of the remaining family still lives here, and it still is a very painful subject with the lack of closure.
thank you!
Which building was it? Was the crime never solved?
Try reading the article. It’s linked in the second post.
I miss the Rochon’s very much and rarely a day goes by when I don’t think of them. They were my second family.
I’m speaking now out of frustration and anger at the RCMP. Will this crime be solved? I think not to the point where there will ever be a conviction.
I was one of the first few people interviewed by the RCMP when this happened. One, I knew the building and two, they were close to me. The officer was totally disinterested in what I had to tell her, my suspicions, and what I knew as fact. The officer actually made this comment to me, “I’m too busy with all the dead people in town right now to deal with this.” You see, a lot of things happened on that weekend and the police were a little busy. The officer was treating this case as though it was a huge inconvenience to her. Makes one wonder what kind of job she did at the end of the day.
Then the case is reopened a number of years ago. The RCMP re-interview people. Oh, correction, only some of the people. They never bothered interviewing those people who were first on scene. Who and what did they see? They selected a few people and didn’t bother with the rest. What a transparent effort. Why would you not revisit all the witnesses, friends, family, whatever? Its like ‘Hmm, lets interview 50% of the people that we interviewed back then cause they’ll know the same things.’
The truth is, it wasn’t their loved ones so they just went through the motions.
Maybe at the end of it all, they wouldn’t have been able to convict someone but at least some of us could sleep at night knowing those people we depend on, to investigate such matters, did the best job they could and exhausted all possibilities.
Fiddlefaddle, I am very sorry that you lost your good friends in such a tragedy. I don’t know if it would help, but have you tried calling Crime Stoppers (as the article in the paper suggests) and telling them about your suspicions and what you know as a fact. Maybe if the other witnesses, friends and family also were to call, somehow the police might be able to piece things together and get one step closer to giving the friends and family of the Rochons some closure. Like I said, not sure if this would help at all but anything is worth trying.