Update: Bystanders key in getting Chilliwack firefighters out to carport fire that destroyed vintage truck

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack resident Wendy Power says she poured over $30,000 into her vintage 1967 F100 pickup truck.

She even had plans to buy a hydrogen motor for it a decade or so from now and hand it down to her 8-year-old granddaughter, who could one day drive it in her teenage years.

Instead, the truck known as “Buttercup” is likely a write-off after Power says it was intentionally burned Wednesday morning (Dec. 17) just after 2 a.m. inside a fenced parking lot near Williams Street, between Maple Avenue and Margaret Avenue, just east of downtown Chilliwack.

Power suspects she was targeted due to her line of work.

“Because I’m a building manager and the RAN (Ruth and Naomi’s) junkies don’t like me,” Power said. “The price of being in property management. They tried to set our third floor stairwell on fire a couple weeks ago. We know who’s letting them in and this has been escalating for weeks. Gonna need to ask the universe for a favour now.”

The suspect is believed to be a male who has had run-ins with Power before.

Image: Wendy Power / Wendy Power says the fire began in the bed of her truck.

“A problem tenant’s boyfriend lets them into the building. He’s left dog feces on my door and urinated on my doormat, and tears down Christmas decor in the lobby,” she said. “He says I’m ugly and smell bad, all because the boss towed their motorcycle after several warnings. He’s a low-level drug dealer who’s on the RCMP’s radar. They’ve towed his camper van, too.”

The truck was no ordinary vehicle. Power said the vehicle had a “three-on-the-tree” manual transmission, Armstrong power steering, and a 300 inline six engine.

“She made folks smile every day,” Power said. “I would stop all the time to answer questions. It was the first year of that body style. I just did the interior and an engine refresh at D’Cardos Mechanical on Alexander Avenue. I was gonna install a hydrogen motor in 10 or so years and give it to my eldest grannydaughter when she was old enough.”

Power figures the truck’s best days are long gone.

“Most likely a write-off. Fifteen years and over $30K spent,” Power said. “Bodywork was next. I think folks need to know what is going on down here. There are three other burns on the outside of nearby buildings.”

The entrance to a multi-unit development at 46199 Margaret Avenue acts as the entrance to a lane that accesses her building’s parking lot. The strata building at 46199 Margaret Avenue is occupied by people who own their own units, Power said.

“It’s a nice building with folks who own their units,” she said. “There’s junkies behind their building every single day. I see it from my balcony. I have to encounter them when I take the dog out. There are two burns in the last few weeks. The evidence is still there.”

Fraser Valley Today has reached out to the Chilliwack Fire Department for more information on the vehicle fire.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

Update: Bystanders key in getting Chilliwack firefighters out to carport fire that destroyed vintage truck

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