An investigation into the early Monday morning fire that destroyed the "temporary" home of the King George Hotel was no more than a few hours old but owner Sam Pervez already had his suspicions.
The blaze gutted the hotel that just had its grand opening two weeks before and was a replacement for the original King George Hotel which in turned had been destroyed in a February 2010 fire.
That fire that turned out to be a case of arson for which a man was sentenced to three years in a federal penitentiary. Now, in the wake of Monday's conflagration, Pervez says a chain of events the two days preceding the fire leads him to believe the temporary King George could again have been the target of an arsonist.
"It's very shocking to me," Pervez said Monday morning. "I'm shaking right now. It's very disappointing."
Along with the shock and disappointment, however, comes the suspicion the blaze could have been the by-product of a vendetta against Pervez personally or the business itself, Pervez suggests, even though it was too early for investigators to establish whether the fire was accidental or intentional.
"There are some people out there who don't like the name King George or they don't like me or they don't like the both of us,' Pervez says.
Pervez's suspicions are grounded in events that began Friday when a woman stopped by the hotel and, pleading poverty, was given some money. Afterward, her husband came by but when he asked for a handout, Pervez instead had him clean out a back room where a stock of liquor was present.
Following the cleanup but prior to the man's departure, Pervez says he counted the bottles and determined one was missing - he then confronted the man but was unsuccessful in retrieving the missing bottle.
The following morning - Saturday about 5 a.m. - the man and his wife were caught on camera breaking into the hotel. After trashing the till, the pair sat down for two hours and drank liquor, fleeing out the back door about 7 a.m. when they heard an employee come into the front of the hotel.
RCMP were called and after Pervez relayed to them the events relating to the man and woman, the police went to their residence. Pervez then viewed the video, saw the couple's images, and called police again. Police told him they had already found stolen liquor in the couple's residence and had arrested them.
In the meantime, the King George which had been closed Saturday afternoon because of the break-in was re-opened for business about 5 p.m. and resumed normal operation. The hotel was open Sunday with the last customer leaving just before midnight and Pervez says he was the last to leave shortly after midnight. He then got the call from police about 1:30 a.m. and by the time he arrived at the hotel the fire department was already there battling the blaze.
What's raised Pervez's suspicions the fire could be a case of arson centres on a couple in a truck parked in a lot near the hotel and who, he says, seemed to be acting somewhat strangely.
"I have no proof against those people, whoever they are... I don't have the proof. It's anybody's guess but give it time (and) we will know the truth in a few days.
"Just like what happened the last time (when the original King George burned) we waited a couple of weeks and the truth came out. The same thing here. We have to give the police the chance to investigate. I'm pretty sure something will come up."
The immediate order of business for Pervez is attending to insurance matters. He says he invested more than $100,000 in renovating the Main Street restaurant that served as the King George's temporary home.
