NEIGHBOURS NOT SAD TO SEE DRUG HOUSE GO UP IN SMOKE

A known drug house erupted in smoke and flames Thursday, leaving few
neighbours mourning its destruction.

Kamloops Fire and Rescue, the RCMP and B.C. Ambulance Service converged on
225 Willow St. shortly after 7 p.m. As they arrived, thick, grey smoke
billowed from every crack and opening in the two-storey blue and grey house.

Const. Craig Blanchard, the first officer at the scene, said dozens of
neighbours had already gathered to watch the structure burn when he pulled up.

Matt Bentley and his girlfriend, Sam Majewski, stood outside a neighbouring
apartment building and watched firefighters wade through the smoke.

"All I can say is this is a good thing," said Bentley. "There's been lots
of problems with this house. It's a known crack house. There's always
people coming and going."

The couple moved into the apartment a year earlier. Since then they've had
to walk over people passed out in their front yard and in the building's
laundry room.

"They even come in to do their laundry. It's pretty scary," said Majewski,
moments before a window exploded and flames to shot into the air.

Bentley saw two people leave the house moments before smoke began flowing
into the air.

"One of them said something about needing to find a new place to live. They
didn't seem too concerned. I don't see either of them around here," he said.

"It's too bad this is what it takes to shut it down. I just hope no one was
inside."

Activity at the house quieted down a bit in January when a suspected armed
robber was arrested on the property, he said.

On Jan. 3, James Raven and four other men were arrested at a house on the
200 block of Willow Street. Raven was later charged in connection with a
series of armed robberies at the start of the year.

Firefighters had the blaze under control by 7:35 p.m. Cleanup continued
well into the night. Many neighbours stood around and watched.

"Somebody mentioned to me that there might have been a meth lab inside,"
said a neighbour who did not want to be identified.

"There's always been problems with this house. There's been a lot of
break-and-enters in the neighbourhood. The house has been in the newspaper."

Blanchard confirmed the house is known to police.

"It's a known drug house. It's safe to say that," he said. "It's got a long
history. I've been here numerous times.

"People who live on this street won't be too concerned about it being
gone," Blanchard said.