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A 24 year-old Burns Lake man lost part of his right foot after suffering a gunshot wound that led to his attacker’s nine-hour standoff with police.

In connection with the shooting, the RCMP have arrested a 15 year old Burns Lake male, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The shooting occurred at approximately 4:00 am near Centre St. and 5th Ave. Witnesses say they heard fighting in the street and when they came outside to investigate, they heard a gunshot.

Burns Lake RCMP responded to the shooting at 4:05 am, and tracked the suspect down to an apartment on Hwy 16 in downtown Burns Lake.

Several negotiators were brought to the scene, who established a telephone dialogue with the suspect early in the confrontation.

A perimeter around the apartment was cordoned off, as the ERT took up armed positions around the apartment. The standoff blocked all traffic from running through the downtown core along Hwy 16.

Rescue pulled two girls to safety last Tuesday night who spent two frigid hours clinging to a bridge pillar in Burns Lake.

David Melanson, a unit crew fire fighter with the Nadina Fire Zone, was first to arrive on the scene. He says the two girls were shaking uncontrollably and showing signs of hypothermia.

Melanson had responded to the emergency call at Radley Beach at about 10 p.m.

He followed the yells of two girls until he spotted them clinging to the third pillar of the Hwy. 35 bridge. He says he couldn’t determine their condition, nor the seriousness of the situation from shore, so he swam out to meet them.

“The water was freezing,” he says. “I don’t know how they managed to stay out there two hours.”

The girls told Melanson they were too cold to swim to shore. The older of the two had lost feeling in her hands, and the other had lost feeling throughout her limbs.

The entire Nadina Fire Zone was on high to extreme alert, with all fire crews and two helicopters on standby. The arrival of hot, dry weather in the Lakes District coincides with a new report that warns wildfires pose an unprecedented threat to BC interior forests and the municipalities within them.

The Forest Practices Board’s report, entitled Managing Forest Fuels, says A 60-year history of fire suppression, logging practices, and insect and disease epidemics have all contributed to a massive buildup of natural fuels.

At press time the Nadina Fire Zone issued a category 2 and 3 burning ban, which prohibits all open burning, except small camp fires.

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