BC woman arrested for allegedly starting multiple wildfires

Kamloops RCMP says a woman has been arrested and charged with four counts of arson in over a series of human-caused wildfires in BC’s Interior.

All the fires were started this spring on Crown land, and the BC Wildfire Service had to deploy its resources to put them out.

Angela Elis Cornish of Kamloops was arrested on May 11 and will be held in custody until her bail hearing on May 16.

Police say a tip from a resident near Monte Lake on April 30 helped in their investigation. The person phoned police about a suspicious vehicle on a forestry road while investigating some smoke in the hills. The witness took down the car’s license plate.

Police alerted the public about the suspicious vehicle on May 3, and other people reported their own encounters with the vehicle — driven by a woman.

The investigation was a joint effort between RCMP and the BC Wildfire Service. Anyone who witnesses a wildfire should report it by calling *5555 from a cellphone.

News of the arrest came on the same day federal officials updated Canadians on their plans to combat wildfires this summer during a news conference in Vancouver. The federal government will spend $516 million to train 1,000 additional firefighters and develop a new wildfire monitoring satellite system.