Pickup destroyed by fire on 20th Street in Vernon Monday night deemed suspicious

Photo: Crystal Hedlund

UPDATE: 10:52 a.m.

Vernon RCMP are deeming the Monday night pickup truck fire as suspicious.

"At this time, investigators are treating the fire as suspicious," says Cpl. Tania Finn, Media Relations Officer for the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP. "The investigation is on-going; however, no suspects have been identified."

Police are asking anyone with information to contact Constable Ben Freeling at the Vernon detachment at 250-545-7171. You can also choose to remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leaving a tip online on their website. If you have information that leads to an arrest, you may receive a cash reward.

UPDATE: 9:55 a.m.

The City of Vernon is reporting no injuries in the 20th Street truck fire Monday night.

"The fire occurred at approximately 10:50 p.m. and there were no structures involved," says Christy Poirier, communications manager for the City of Vernon. "Vernon Fire Rescue Services cleared the scene approximately one hour after crews arrived."

The incident was then turned over to the Vernon RCMP for investigation. Castanet has reached out to the RCMP for comment, and will update the story when more details become available.

ORIGINAL: 9:30 a.m.

A pickup went up in flames in Vernon's north end Monday night.

The incident occurred on 20th Street, in between 43rd Avenue and 45th Avenue.

Witnesses say the blaze only lasted about five minutes, as it was extinguished quickly by firefighters.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

Castanet has reached out to Vernon RCMP and Vernon Fire Rescue for more details and will update the story as more information becomes available.