UPDATE: Camera shows individual near overdose prevention van right before fire

UPDATE 2: According to deputy fire chief Matt Troiano, the fire department arrived on the scene with five firefighters and two fire apparatus. Crews confined the fire to the vehicle and extinguished the fire. The fire is now under investigation by the RCMP. The footage obtained from the security camera has been passed on to the RCMP.

UPDATE: Based on security camera footage from the Moose F.M. building located on 101st Avenue, the fire began Sunday night at approximately 9 p.m. Also on camera, a person is seen approaching the vehicle, then walking away before the van fire began.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fort St. John overdose prevention van was recently destroyed by fire.

The cause of the fire and when it took place is unknown at this time. The van is currently parked behind the Northern Health offices, surrounded by police tape.

“Northern Health and the Fort St. John OPS team are extremely concerned and saddened by this senseless act of destruction of an important and well-used resource in the community and for the peers and other partners engaged in this life-saving work. It is too soon to say what the impact on services will be, but the team is already working to ensure these services continue,” said Northern Health in a statement.

Earlier this year, the van was provided by a partnership between Northern Health and the First Nations Health Authority to provide mobile overdose prevention services.

The van provided services six hours a day, five days a week, in two different locations until this incident.

In the northeast, there have been 15 illicit drug overdoses in 2022, according to the most recent B.C. Coroners Service report.

Fort St. John RCMP and the Fort St. John Fire Department were not available for an immediate comment.