An online fundraiser has raised more than $12,000 for the owners of a shop destroyed by fire on Vedder Mountain Road last Thursday.
It happened the morning of June 8 when a charter bus of kids on a field trip stopped by the side of the road around 9:20 a.m. with a smoking tire.
Somehow the bus caught fire, ignited the hedges, and spread to the shop structure at 44408 Vedder Mountain Road.
“The vehicle involved was a hired coach transporting students from a West Vancouver elementary school,” said Sgt. Krista Vrolyk, spokesperson for Chilliwack RCMP.
The bus driver and all passengers made it off the bus safely.
The on-site business was a long-standing specialized automotive business with a global customer base. The owners said they are especially “grateful” and “thankful” that their employee working in the shop at the time of the fire heard an explosion and made it out safely.
A Gofundme account has been set up for Lisa and Dave Bisschop by Craig Johnson, to help the local couple recoup their losses from the blaze on the morning of June 8.
“Dave Bisschop tragically lost his shop, (SD Performance) and all his equipment, due to a charter bus that caught fire near by and spread to his shop,” Johnson wrote. “Lisa and Dave are great people, they do not deserve any of this. Anybody who knows Dave knows that he is one of the best in the business when it comes to making horsepower, and always willing to help somebody out.
“It is time for friends, and the racing community to come together to help Lisa, Dave and SD Performance get back up and running.”
The Bisschops are seeking dash cam or video footage from the public of the bus, either coming into Chilliwack, or along Vedder Mountain Road, before it stopped at the site where it burned.
The incident saw Chilliwack Fire Department crews race to the scene with about 32 firefighters who tackled the fire over several hours. There were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported.
Firefighters managed to establish a rural water-supply setup using tanker trucks, according to assistant fire chief Chris Wilson.
The students who had been on their way to Cultus Lake, were able to carry on after the incident.
Firefighters’ efforts were praised for “successfully preventing” the fire from spreading to the forested area at the base of Vedder Mountain.
The cause of this fire is currently under investigation by Chilliwack Fire officials, and RCMP. Some reported it was a bus tire blow-out that caused the fire but that has not been confirmed.
RCMP was on-scene at about 9:43 a.m to handle traffic control at the scene as there were children on the road at the time. The road was closed to all traffic between Giebsrecht Road and Cultus Lake Road, Columbia Valley Highway, as firefighters worked to put out the fire.
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