Jerzy Partyka was walking in from the parking lot of the Prince George Aquatic Centre Thursday afternoon at about 3:30, about to start a coaching session with his young athletes in the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club when he saw smoke and flames coming from the bushes in front of the building.
An unkempt man dressed in shabby clothes was breaking branches from the trees and shrubs to feed the fire he had lit.
“The fire was probably two or three feet high, it was burning really good, and I said, ‘what are you doing, you’re going to burn the building,’” said Partyka.
Partyka told him to put the fire out or he would call the police. He went inside the building and reported it to the front desk attendant, who went out to talk to the man.
“He left that place and went to the other side of the building and started another fire, so I talked to (the attendant) again and said to her, ‘you have to phone the police or the fire department,’ and she phoned the police I don’t know how many times.”
Repeated calls to the RCMP failed to result in a police officer visiting the scene.
“The lifeguard told me they phoned many many times and finally the dispatcher told them that this was not a life-threatening situation, so please don’t phone,” he said.
Partyka was stunned by the lack of police response to the incident.
“After that, he went into the changeroom and started smoking pot,“ said Partyka. “How do we protect our children from something like that, when police tell you this is not a life-threatening situation. I’m speechless. This is happening everywhere, every day.”
Partyka blames government policies on drug use and the fact repeat offenders and being released from custody soon after they get arrested by police because the courts won’t prosecute them.
“What the heck is going on?” said Partyka.
“The stupid NDP and the Liberals, that’s what they are doing. That’s the crime that’s happening everywhere in Canada and especially in B.C. They are not doing anything about that.
“They are using the drugs in the hospital, they are doing drugs in the parks and nothing is done about that.”
After the incident, Partyka sent a letter to all parents of the 160 Barracudas club members to let them know about the incident. He encouraged them to phone the city, the police department and their local members of parliament to let them know that happened on Thursday is unacceptable.
The Citizen reached out to the City of Prince George which manages the pool, and the RCMP for comment.
City spokesperson Claire Thwaites, in an email to the Citizen, said:
“The City confirms an incident took place yesterday afternoon at the Aquatic Centre and that the police were called. We care deeply about the safety of our staff and our pool users. As this is a police matter, questions should be directed to the RCMP.”
RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Jennifer Cooper was unavailable for comment.
The Barracudas are hosting their annual Dental Moose Meet this weekend, starting today, and Partyka says his swimmers deserve better protection from the authorities, especially when they are made aware of a potential safety threat in a public place.
“Maybe somebody will do something about it,” Partyka said.
“Who has the rights, the people paying the taxes or this guy lighting fires? I left Poland (in 1988) because I hated the communists and socialists, and now it’s exactly the same here. The Liberals and the NDP are not listening to anybody, they are doing whatever they want.
“People are coming all the time to the pool, children, old people, who knows if he has a knife and was going to stab somebody or a gun. Everybody is afraid to say something. They’ll go after him when he’s going to kill or injure somebody.”
Partyka was outraged by a news report this week about a man in Victoria who was arrested by the Victoria Police Department three times in three consecutive days after a string of attempted car thefts, a car crash and a home invasion.
The man, identified as Seth Packer, was first arrested on Sunday after he attempted to carjack a vehicle, but the driver managed to get him out the vehicle.
The following day, Packer was arrested after he stole a Tesla and crashed it and was trapped inside the car. That time he was released on house arrest but it had little effect as a deterrent.
On Tuesday night, the man was arrested again after he allegedly broke into a home and stole a wallet.
In the legislature Wednesday in Victoria during question period, Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond spoke out about Premier David Eby’s so-called catch-and-release policy.
“If that doesn’t describe catch and release, I have no idea what does,” Bond shouted, after speaking about the crimes Packer’s allegedly committed.
“When will this prime minister do the right thing? “He admits that his soft-on-crime policies are causing chaos across British Columbia,” she said.
