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Hydro pulled into lawsuit over hangar fire

B.C. Hydro has been ordered to hand over all documents related to the old Northern Thunderbird Air hangar, which burned down five years ago.
court gavel

B.C. Hydro has been ordered to hand over all documents related to the old Northern Thunderbird Air hangar, which burned down five years ago.

According to a court filing, there may have been a low voltage problem at the building as a result of some new poles Hydro had added in the area during the summer of 2009.

Three days before the fire, an electrical contractor had been in the building and confirmed the problem. The building's owner then notified Hydro.

Bluewater Business Solutions Ltd., a defendant in a long-running court case over who is liable for the fire, which leveled the building on Dec. 19, 2009, made the request for Hydro's documents in a Nov. 6 notice of application and a B.C. Supreme Court master granted the order on Thursday.

Hydro has 14 days after receiving the order to provide "all documents" related to the building.

In a lawsuit, brought by Central Mountain Air Ltd. and Northern Thunderbird Inc., it's alleged the fire started in the office of Bluewater Business Solutions, in the northeast corner of the building's second floor.

It's also alleged the fire was still contained to that spot when Prince George Fire Rescue arrived on the scene, but firefighters failed to take the appropriate action to suppress the blaze. It also alleged the Prince George Airport Authority took no steps to fight the fire prior to PGFR's arrival.

The pickup truck of Vernon Martin, one of the building's owners, was found in the hangars parking lot, but his body has not been found. Six months later, after the ice built up from fire fighting efforts had thawed, forensic investigators picked through the rubble for two weeks but to no avail.

In 2012, the Citizen learned that some time after the fire, RCMP in Vermillion, Alta. issued a warrant for Martin's arrest for four alleged sex-related offences based on historical complaints.