Wednesday July 10, 2013 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST Included
Man dies in grow-op explosion
Crashes injure two
motorcycles: Men hurt in separate collisions on the same day.
Fatality: Gleneden site was licensed to grow pot for medicinal purposes.
By tracy hughes OBSeRveR STAFF
By tracy hughes OBSeRveR STAFF
A man who was seriously burned in an explosion at a legal marijuana grow operation in Gleneden has died. david Allen Kingsbury, 45, died in hospital Friday, the day after the Thursday evening explosion. He was from the lower Mainland, but most recently had been staying in Salmon Arm. At approximately 8:30 p.m. on July 4, RcMP, the Salmon Arm Fire department and Bc Ambulance responded to a report of a possible explosion at an address on 50th Street nW. upon investigation, RcMP determined this was a legal, fully-licensed marijuana growing operation Legal or not, grow taking place at the site, operations are and that the explosion high-risk appeared to be the result occupancies. of a malfunction with a piece of machinery. “There was nothing criminal about this, as it was a legal grow,” says Brad Shirley RcMP Sgt. carlos TetSalmon arm tolowski. “As such, that Fire ChieF makes this more of an industrial work accident.” Tettolowski said the man was “gravely injured” in the explosion and was transported to hospital. The Salmon Arm Fire department called out crews from Halls #3 and #4 to the possible explosion, but when they arrived there was no fire. “On arrival, we discovered a shop which showed signs of a fire consistent with some type of explosion, but there was nothing actually burning when we got on-scene. There was one male occupant who had severe burns to a major part of his body,” said Salmon Arm Fire chief Brad Shirley. “The shop contained a very sophisticated grow operation that was licensed to grow marijuana for medicinal pur-
James murray/OBSeRveR
Crumpled bikes: (Top) An RCMP officer surveys the wreckage of a collision at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and 30th Street NW. (Below) Bystanders help shield a motorcyclist from the sun at the Balmoral Road accident while paramedics assess his injuries before transporting him to hospital.
Two motorcyclists were seriously injured in separate crashes, one taking place Saturday afternoon and the other in the early evening. At 1 p.m. on July 6, police responded to a collision at the intersection of the Trans-canada Highway and Balmoral Road. A pickup truck failed to yield to a motorcycle travelling eastbound on the highway. The 49-year-old motorcyclist from lee creek was airlifted to Royal Inland hospital in Kamloops with severe head and leg trauma. At last word he was in critical condition. Then at 7 p.m. that same night, in almost identical circumstances to the earlier incident, police responded to a vehicle collision at the intersection of the Transcanada Highway and 30th Street ne near the Mcdonald’s Restaurant. A pickup truck failed to yield to a motorcycle travelling westbound on Highway 1 and struck the motorcycle broadside. The 54-year-old motorcyclist from Abbotsford was taken to Shuswap lake General Hospital before being transferred to a higher level of care. He remains in critical condition with leg and head trauma.
Don mitChell photo
See incident on page A2
This week A Shuswap team earns honours at the World RoboCup competition in Holland. See A4. There was hot action at the Canoe ball diamonds as SloPitch season wound up. See B1.
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............. A12 Sports................... B1-B4 Arts & Events ....... B5-B7 Time Out................... B10 Vol. 106, No. 28, 48 pages