By Canadian Press

Bridge over Okanagan Lake in B.C. reopens after bomb scare, fire in van

Jan 27, 2025 | 3:54 PM

KELOWNA, B.C. — Police have reopened a bridge across Okanagan Lake in the B.C. Interior after an explosives scare that shut it down for about 11 hours.

Officers say the incident began early Monday morning when a man parked a white panel van across multiple lanes of the William R. Bennett Bridge and posted online remarks about the contents.

Kelowna RCMP Insp. Chris Gable told a briefing that officers responded to the scene at 3:45 a.m. and encountered a “distraught” man in the van blocking the eastbound lanes of the bridge that connects Kelowna with West Kelowna.

Gable said the man made “threatening comments” about his own well-being before setting a fire in the vehicle which firefighters were able to quickly extinguish.

He said police convinced the man to get out and he was taken to hospital, but the “known contents of the van” described online and in phone calls posed a “significant risk,” and the vehicle couldn’t be removed until it was inspected by explosives officers.

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A statement from police at 2:20 p.m. says the van was rendered safe for transport and the bridge was reopened.

Around the start of the incident, a man on social media claimed he had “60 pounds of highly volatile material” inside the vehicle that could be easily triggered, and the bridge would be shut until his concerns were resolved.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2025.

The Canadian Press