Four days after someone deliberately set fire to two sheds and destroyed $1 million worth of hay needed to feed his cattle this winter, John Kochel and his family on their farm west of Vanderhoof were victimized by another criminal act.
While Kochel was attending church Aug. 13 with his wife Karen and son Brian, someone went to the rear of Brian’s house and turned on two exterior taps. By the time it was discovered the following afternoon, water had leaked through the window wells and the basement was flooded. Damage is estimated at $100,000.
A few days later, someone left two of the Kochel’s cattle gates open, which allowed his herd to spill out onto the road in the dark of night.
“Somebody is kicking our butts really bad,” said John Kochel. “What they’re showing is they can do what they want to do, when they want to do it.
“The fact is there’s somebody out there who’s relentless, that’s three different things, and the fire, of course, is the most devastating. We’re being terrorized and we’re terrified what’s next. My wife can’t sleep and nobody can. We’re terrorized, afraid of everything.”
The fire happened at about 4 a.m. on Aug.9. Two sheds full of hay were lit simultaneously. After an investigation the RCMP fire commission determined arson was the cause. Police are looking for a 1993-97 off-white Ford F-250 super cab pickup truck with a primer black front driver’s side fender in connection to the hay fire.
The driver of another pickup truck who had been spotted driving at a rapid pace on Telegraph Road (about two miles from the fire site) at the time of the fire had been under suspicion. But he contacted a friend of Kochels a day later and said he’d been late for work that day, which is why he was speeding. He was approaching the other truck from behind at about 5:20 a.m. when the driver of the suspect vehicle suddenly swerved and pulled over on the road and turned out the headlights just as he passed by. He reported to police there were two occupants in that truck.
All three incidents are being investigated by Vanderhoof RCMP to determine if they are related. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Vanderhoof RCMP at 250-567-222 or call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Kochel has 800 head of cattle and his crop was uninsured so he has no hay to feed them this winter. They took a second cutting of the fields but it won’t be enough and due to drought conditions across Western Canada, nobody has hay for sale. The closest supply he’d found is in central Washington state and the cost ($450 per tonne) is prohibitive. So he faces the real prospect of having to sell his cattle for slaughter, including choice young mother cows aged three to six years he would normally keep for breeding and milking purposes for up to 12 years.
“It’s the money, you don’t budget $1.5 million extra for feed when you put up your own feed,” said Kochel. “Can we get it? I don’t think so, that’s a lot of money to raise in our little world in a family farm."
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