Selkirk Medical Centre targeted by arsonist

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This article was published 20/07/2017 (2470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of the Selkirk Medical Centre is asking for answers after her clinic was targeted by an arsonist Tuesday night.

“I’m still dumbfounded by it,” said Nancy Limneos, who has owned the clinic since 2013.

Fire crews in the area were called to the building around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and said it was already engulfed in flames.

Fortunately for Limneos, the firefighters and fire doors were able to restrict the damage to the back entrance of the clinic, so the clinic’s nine doctors can keep seeing patients. RCMP noted there was extensive damage to the entrance and smoke damage throughout the centre.

Employees of the clinic are still shocked they were targets of an arsonist, Limneos said.

She keeps thinking about what could’ve happened if the cleaners were there. The clinic’s janitorial staff work at different hours during the evening, but weren’t in the building during the fire.

“I just think about how bad it could’ve been,” Limneos said.

Video surveillance of the incident shows a man pulling up in a small, white car, then carrying a few gas cans over to the side of the building, pouring some fuel out and lighting it before running back to his car and taking off.

Police believe the man used firewood, gas and some kind of lighting device, RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel confirmed.

“I want to know why. Like if there’s something bothering you, tell somebody. This is not the way to deal with it,” Limneos said.

RCMP have yet to make an arrest in the case, which has Limneos worried.

“He did it flat-out under a camera, so what’s stopping him from doing it again? He’s not trying to hide anything,” she said.

Limneos doesn’t yet have an estimate of how much the damage will cost. She has hired professionals to remove smoke damaged items and will close the clinic for the weekend while they clean the building’s air system.

Limneos has repeatedly watched the security footage that caught the man setting the fire. The suspect looks to be in his 30s and clean cut, she said. The RCMP said he was wearing a white and dark baseball cap, a dark T-shirt, blue shorts and black and white running shoes. He drove a white four-door hatchback.

Limneos hopes someone can identify the suspect in the video. RCMP are asking anyone with information to call Selkirk RCMP at 204-482-1222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.