A 35-year-old man was arrested Monday afternoon in Abbotsford after a fire forced him out of a home in which he had barricaded himself for more than three hours.
Const. Jody Thomas said the incident began at about 10:30 a.m., when police went to a home in the 31700 block of Southdale Crescent in west Abbotsford to “conduct a follow-up with a female from a domestic violence investigation.”
Thomas said when police were there, they found out that a man who was inside the home was breaching his court-ordered conditions to have no contact with the woman and to not go to her home.
Thomas said officers were able to remove the woman, her 11-year-old child and basement-suite tenants from the home. Police then contained the residence to arrest the man, but he would not come out.
The emergency response team (ERT) and crisis negotiators were then called to the scene.
Thomas said that just before 2 p.m., a window was smashed, and police could see smoke and fire coming from the master bedroom.
The man then left the home and was arrested. Thomas said he was suffering from smoke inhalation and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service was called to the scene, and Thomas said the fire caused extensive damage to the home. Investigators are still determining the exact cause of the blaze, but have deemed it “suspicious.”
The man remains in custody and, at this point, is facing charges of breaching his conditons.
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