RCMP seeking information

No one was harmed and the school was saved, but the act of arson which forced Westmount elementary’s 250 students to temporarily locate left its community rattled.

“Everybody is super shell shocked. How could somebody do this?” asked Jelena Hansen, chair of the school’s Parent Advisory Council.

“Parents in general are outraged and very, very, very upset that somebody would want to do this to our community.”

Kamloops RCMP and Kamloops Fire Rescue were called to the school, located at 745 Walkem Road, in the early morning hours of Oct. 26. Fire crews quickly extinguished the flames, but damage to the building has led to an indefinite closure.

At a press conference the next day, officials with the Kamloops-Thompson School District thanked Kamloops Fire Rescue and RCMP for their rapid response and ongoing investigation. District staff are now working with the fire inspector to assess the extent of the damage and begin remediation.

As a result of the fire, Westmount Elementary is closed until further notice, and there will be no public access to the building for several weeks. Classes were cancelled Monday, Oct. 27, and Tuesday, Oct. 28 while district and school staff develop a transition and relocation plan for students. Those students were divided into age group cohorts and moved to Kay Bingham, George Hilliard, and Parkcrest elementary schools.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Hansen confirmed the fire was lit on the roof near a skylight above the school’s library, which is in the middle of the building. She hoped damage to the library was minimal.

“I’m hoping that a lot of it inside might just be water damage from them flooding it to get [the fire] out,” said Hansen.

For Hansen, waking up to news of the fire came with a sense of déjà vu. She had attended Parkcrest elementary as a child and that school burned to the ground in 2019. At first she feared the same fate would befall Westmount, a building from the same era as Parkcrest.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and her youngest child, who is in Grade 5, will eventually return to the school.

“Thankfully it’s fixable,” she said.

Still, she remembers rushing to the scene of the Parkcrest fire and watching the school burn with friends she has in the Brocklehurst neighbourhood. She also remembers the impact that fire had on the students, teachers, and community.

“That was my alumni school,” said Hansen. “It was devastating.”

However, the Parkcrest blaze wasn’t an act of arson. The fact the Westmount fire was is most troubling, she said.

“We are such a little community school and it means so much to us. To have that hurt in any way seems just unimaginable,” Hansen said.

“Why would anybody do this?”

Further updates about Westmount Elementary will be released as more information becomes available in the coming days and weeks.

Anyone who may have witnessed activity in the area or has information related to the incident is asked to contact the Kamloops RCMP Detachment at 250-828-3000, quoting file number 2025-35751.