Detectives from the Victoria Crimes Unit are hoping to locate and locate two men who may have witnessed an April 20 arson attack on the home of a Ukrainian priest and his family. Neither is suspected of arson, but police believe they may have information about the ongoing investigation. The fire sent a young girl to the hospital after she suffered serious injuries while escaping from the fire through a second floor window at her home on Caledonia Avenue. The first man is described as about 50 years old and white. He is about six feet tall with a medium body, short dark brown hair and a clean shaved face. He was wearing a brown jacket with black areas near the shoulders, a black sweater on top, dark blue jeans and shoes with dark laces. The man was in the area of Cook Street and Caledonia shortly after 1 p.m. of 20 April. The second man is described as about 25 years old and either white or from the Middle East. It is six feet or two with medium length dark brown hair that is closer to the sides and back and longer than the top and short beard. He was wearing a dark blue hooded coat, brown oil pants, dark shoes and a military green backpack. He was also in the Cook and Caledonian area shortly after 1 a.m. on April 20. Investigators say they received a lot of advice after the release of a video of a vehicle driven by a potential witness. Yuriy Vyshnevskyy, with the help of a neighbor, caught his three daughters as they jumped from the second floor of their house to escape the fire at dawn. He woke up to control a noise and discovered flames after apparently someone had thrown a flammable liquid into the mail slot. Vyshnevskyy, a priest in the parish of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Nicholas next to the house, and his family barely escaped. During their escape, his 11-year-old daughter landed on shattered window glass, resulting in a deep cut that cut a nerve in her arm. The first to respond were initially concerned about the loss of a large amount of blood from her injury. She has since undergone two surgeries to repair the damage and doctors say it could take up to a year for her arm to fully recover. Her stitches will be removed next week, but her hand will be in a splint. While the rest of the family escaped relatively unscathed, the mental wounds may take longer to heal. “We received consulting services,” Wisniewski said last week. “There is so much information to process at one time. “It takes time to prioritize information and understand what requires immediate action.” The heritage house, next to the church, was severely damaged, especially at the front entrance and the stairs upstairs. Police ask anyone who identifies any potential witnesses or has information about the fire to call the VicPD reporting office at 250-995-7654, extension 1. – With files by Pedro Arrais [email protected]
