Willene Chong, Vancouver September 11 2008

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http://www.vpdcoldcases.ca/willene-chong/

"Willene CHONG

After raising five children, running a successful grocery business and mourning the loss of her husband, Willene Chong was finally enjoying her retirement. She lived with her son, Daniel, and his new wife, Nancy, in the home she had lived in for 36 years, a home full of many wonderful memories – the celebrations, the laughter and even the tears. Now a new generation of seven grandchildren came to visit.

That all changed on the morning of Friday, September 11, 2008.

Daniel awakened to fire racing through the house. Despite breaking a basement window and suffering a serious injury in his attempts to save her, Daniel was not able to reach his mother. Seventy-six year old Willene perished in the fire.

Her death was made even more senseless by the fact the home had been deliberately and randomly set on fire by a stranger, and appeared to be part of a series of arson fires that had been set in the area in the hours leading up to Willene’s death".
 
http://www.vpdcoldcases.ca/willene-chong/

"Willene CHONG

After raising five children, running a successful grocery business and mourning the loss of her husband, Willene Chong was finally enjoying her retirement. She lived with her son, Daniel, and his new wife, Nancy, in the home she had lived in for 36 years, a home full of many wonderful memories – the celebrations, the laughter and even the tears. Now a new generation of seven grandchildren came to visit.

That all changed on the morning of Friday, September 11, 2008.

Daniel awakened to fire racing through the house. Despite breaking a basement window and suffering a serious injury in his attempts to save her, Daniel was not able to reach his mother. Seventy-six year old Willene perished in the fire.

Her death was made even more senseless by the fact the home had been deliberately and randomly set on fire by a stranger, and appeared to be part of a series of arson fires that had been set in the area in the hours leading up to Willene’s death".

So these fires were set in succession just hours before ?
 
From this 2012 article, it seems that arson has been quite prevalent in recent years..

http://www.vancourier.com/news/rash...ires-ignite-arson-awareness-campaign-1.383942

"Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media relations officer, urged residents to report any suspicious activity to police to avoid a possible arson. We want to prevent loss of property as much as we can and, more importantly, we want to prevent someone needlessly losing their life because of a fire set by an arsonist, Montague said.

On Sept. 11, 2008 Willene Wah Ying Chong lay sleeping in her bed at 2781 East 55th Avenue when an arsonist set fire to her home.

The 77-year-old woman was unable to escape and died. One of Chongs five children, her 39-year-old son, was injured in the blaze.

So far, police have determined the arson was a random act.

A $10,000 reward still exists for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the crime. Call 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477."
- See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/news/rash...reness-campaign-1.383942#sthash.gbaVVQiJ.dpuf


Also..
Rbbm.

http://vancouver.ca/police/policeboard/agenda/2012/0321/1221.pdf

"On September 11th

2008 unknown suspect(s) set a series of fires around the area of
Kerr Street and 54th Avenue.

The final fire was set at the Chong’s family residence

located at 2781 East 55 th avenue.
Tragically, the deceased, Willene Chong, born Dec
12th, 1931, was unable to get out of her home in time and succumbed to her injuries.
This incident has caused a considerable amount of concern and fear in the
neighbourhood as it was a random act. Moreover, it was a despicable act carried out
against one of our community’s most vulnerable
"
 
Teenagers?!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...med-in-death-of-east-vancouver-woman-1.717108

"Extra police officers were deployed to patrol an east Vancouver residential area on Friday after a senior citizen died Thursday in a fire that police believe was set by a group of teenagers.

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning said investigators do not have descriptions of the teens and are appealing to them to come forward to police.

Fanning said investigators have confirmed the deadly fire as arson.

"A witness saw a group of young people near one of the fire sites," he said Friday. "Something that may have been intended as a prank — lightning a number of fires as they were walking down the street — has turned extremely serious."



<<<<SNIP>>>

"Police have said four other fires in the Killarney area in east Vancouver on Thursday morning seemed to have been deliberately set:

A fire was set in a portable toilet at East 50th Avenue and Kerr Street.
Some items were set ablaze in the 6700 block of Kerr Street.
A hedge beside a house in the 6900 block of Lancaster Street was set on fire.
A fire broke out behind a house under construction in the 2800 block of East 54th Avenue."
 
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From this 2012 article, it seems that arson has been quite prevalent in recent years..

http://www.vancourier.com/news/rash...ires-ignite-arson-awareness-campaign-1.383942

"Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media relations officer, urged residents to report any suspicious activity to police to avoid a possible arson. We want to prevent loss of property as much as we can and, more importantly, we want to prevent someone needlessly losing their life because of a fire set by an arsonist, Montague said.

On Sept. 11, 2008 Willene Wah Ying Chong lay sleeping in her bed at 2781 East 55th Avenue when an arsonist set fire to her home.

The 77-year-old woman was unable to escape and died. One of Chongs five children, her 39-year-old son, was injured in the blaze.

So far, police have determined the arson was a random act.

A $10,000 reward still exists for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the crime. Call 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477."
- See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/news/rash...reness-campaign-1.383942#sthash.gbaVVQiJ.dpuf


Also..
Rbbm.

http://vancouver.ca/police/policeboard/agenda/2012/0321/1221.pdf

"On September 11th

2008 unknown suspect(s) set a series of fires around the area of
Kerr Street and 54th Avenue.

The final fire was set at the Chong’s family residence

located at 2781 East 55 th avenue.
Tragically, the deceased, Willene Chong, born Dec
12th, 1931, was unable to get out of her home in time and succumbed to her injuries.
This incident has caused a considerable amount of concern and fear in the
neighbourhood as it was a random act. Moreover, it was a despicable act carried out
against one of our community’s most vulnerable
"

Ok some questions about the crime(s) before I get into it

How many other fires were set that night?

How far apart in distance, were they?

Does the distance and time frame, lend investigators to believe more than one individual is responsible?

How much time elapsed between each fire ? or were they set simultaneously?

What makes the police feel they are all related?

What type of structures, were involved in each?
-Private Residences?
-Apartments?
-Businesses?
-Abandoned buildings?
-Were they all occupied? we know 1 was
-Any other property intentionally burned?, Cars, Dumpsters etc?
 
Teenagers?!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...med-in-death-of-east-vancouver-woman-1.717108

"Extra police officers were deployed to patrol an east Vancouver residential area on Friday after a senior citizen died Thursday in a fire that police believe was set by a group of teenagers.

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning said investigators do not have descriptions of the teens and are appealing to them to come forward to police.

Fanning said investigators have confirmed the deadly fire as arson.

"A witness saw a group of young people near one of the fire sites," he said Friday. "Something that may have been intended as a prank — lightning a number of fires as they were walking down the street — has turned extremely serious."



<<<<SNIP>>>

"Police have said four other fires in the Killarney area in east Vancouver on Thursday morning seemed to have been deliberately set:

A fire was set in a portable toilet at East 50th Avenue and Kerr Street.
Some items were set ablaze in the 6700 block of Kerr Street.
A hedge beside a house in the 6900 block of Lancaster Street was set on fire.
A fire broke out behind a house under construction in the 2800 block of East 54th Avenue."

Most arsonists are under the age of 25, 31% under the age of 18
 
Police have said four other fires in the Killarney area in east Vancouver on Thursday morning seemed to have been deliberately set:

A fire was set in a portable toilet at East 50th Avenue and Kerr Street.
Some items were set ablaze in the 6700 block of Kerr Street.
A hedge beside a house in the 6900 block of Lancaster Street was set on fire.
A fire broke out behind a house under construction in the 2800 block of East 54th Avenue."

These are "nuisance", fires, that's a pretty big jump from setting things like a hedge, a portable toilet on fire, to setting ablaze an obviously occupied residence in one night

Did the Arson investigation determine WHERE the fire originated from?...

Any indication , this may've been a nuisance incident that got out of control and spread to the residence?
 
Updated July 2 2014..

http://www.vpdcoldcases.ca/willene-chong/

"Willene CHONG

After raising five children, running a successful grocery business and mourning the loss of her husband, Willene Chong was finally enjoying her retirement. She lived with her son, Daniel, and his new wife, Nancy, in the home she had lived in for 36 years, a home full of many wonderful memories – the celebrations, the laughter and even the tears. Now a new generation of seven grandchildren came to visit.

That all changed on the morning of Friday, September 11, 2008.

Daniel awakened to fire racing through the house. Despite breaking a basement window and suffering a serious injury in his attempts to save her, Daniel was not able to reach his mother. Seventy-six year old Willene perished in the fire.

“My mother was a strong, loving, self-assured and loyal woman,” says Jerry Chong. “We were shaped by her will and determination to better ourselves.”

“The pain never leaves us and we are haunted by the nightmares of that day,” says Chong. “This is especially true for my youngest brother who was present. He not only suffered physical injuries, but memories he cannot erase.”

“Our family needs closure and for that to happen we need to bring her killer to justice.”

Her death was made even more senseless by the fact the home had been deliberately and randomly set on fire by a stranger, and appeared to be part of a series of arson fires that had been set in the area in the hours leading up to Willene’s death.

This is an ongoing file. Please check back regularly for updates"
 
Fires are set in the area prior to the final home fire that ended in Chong's death. However, the prior fires appear to simply be "nuisance fires." It is easy to see these as being done by a teenager. However, a house fire is different. My question would be where did the fire originate? Looking at the crime photos, I would assume it started somewhere in the basement as it has the most damage. Is it possible that this started out as a nuisance fire by setting some kind of trash outside the house on fire and got out of control and spread to the home? Maybe after setting the previous fires, the individuals get cocky. They make a stupid choice and it leads to death.

This woman lived a good life and deserves justice. Someone ALWAYS knows .......
 
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Is there a reference for this? I’m interested because I don’t know much about arson and want to understand.
Welcome to Ws Hernhazz!

interFIRE, A site dedicated to improving fire investigation worldwide.
''History of Arsons by Subjects
The age related arson data is interesting in several ways. Analysis of 1,474 arsons, where the age of the arsonist was known, revealed that 58.7 percent of the fires were set before age 18 and 79.7 percent before age 30. It was interesting to note that 625 (42.6 percent) were set between the ages of 14 and 18. A notable drop in the number of fires, the number of arsonists, and the average numbers of fires set was found at age 19 to 21. The 35 serial arsonists who set fires between the ages of 14 and 16 years averaged 9.1 fires each during those ages. Between 17 and 18 years, 34 offenders averaged 9.0 fires each. In contrast, between the ages of 19 and 21 years, 22 offenders set an average of 4.2 fires. In the two earlier age groups, the total fires exceeded 300 for the 14- 16 year old age group and for the 17 - 18 year old age group. For the 19 - 21 age group, the total was less than 100 arsons.''

https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/ma-rcmp-arson-investigations-in-alberta.pdf
 
PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions

It’s been a while since anyone posted here but I just wanted to add this as it explains that the fire seems to have originated with the shed and gives clues as to the path the arsonist may have taken
Welcome to Ws SerenityLovely, thanks for ''bumping'' this thread!

Wonder if they this guy has been caught?
Alleged arsonist caught on tape in East Vancouver (VIDEO) | News
Jun 13 2021
''This person is walking free in our city and the next fire he lights could burn a house down and kill people.” The video describes the suspect as having a moustache and a distinctive walk or limp. He was wearing a black and white tracksuit with a white hood, a black hat, and white shoes''
 

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