Suspects sought in bridge arson attempt

Police are asking for the public’s help identifying two men who are suspected to have set fire to a historic covered bridge in Keremeos earlier this month.

The aptly named Red Bridge on the Similkameen River was targetted around 1 p.m. on Aug. 5, although members of the Keremeos Fire Department were able to douse the blaze before the structure suffered any serious damage, said RCMP spokesman Const. James Grandy in a press release Monday.

“Witnesses reported seeing a Pontiac Sunfire, or Chevrolet Cavalier, white, stop at the bridge shortly before the fire broke out. Two unidentified males were seen exiting the vehicle and entering into the structure of the bridge,” continued Grandy.

“Shortly thereafter, they both returned to the car and drove away. Moments later, smoke was observed coming from the bridge.”

The driver is described as a short Indigenous man in his mid-20s wearing a dark shirt. The passengers is described as a tall, thin man in his early 20s wearing a light-brown hoodie and possibly having neck and face tattoos.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Keremeos RCMP at 250-499-5511.

In 2019, the span was one of five covered bridges celebrated in a series of stamps issued by Canada Post. Known formally as Ashnola No. 1 Bridge, it was built in 1907 across the Similkameen River during the region’s gold mining era.

Railway tracks were removed from the 135-metre bridge in 1954 and it was opened to vehicle traffic in 1961. It’s the last remaining historic covered bridge in B.C.

According to Canada Post, there were more than 1,400 covered bridges in use across the country at the end of the 19th Century, but today only about 140 remain.