Manitoba RCMP looking for man on a bike after Swan River building catches fire

Manitoba RCMP are investigating after a radio station in Swan River was firebombed.

Manitoba RCMP is investigating after a building in Swan River caught fire on Thursday.

RCMP said officers were called to the 500 block of Main Street around 5:20 a.m., and when officers arrived, a significant amount of smoke was seen coming from inside.

Police and the fire investigator said it’s believed the cause of the fire is “incendiary.”

“Video surveillance reviewed from the area shows an unknown male riding a bike passing the property just before the fire began,” RCMP said in a news release.

Bill Gade is the owner of CJ Radio, the building that caught fire. He told CTV News he has been receiving threats in recent days over news coverage of a head-on collision near Swan River that resulted in three deaths.

RCMP did not state a possible motive at this time.

Gade said he has watched security video of someone on a bike throwing a firebomb through the window of the studio, calling it “absolutely unbelievable.”

“We don’t know what to do. Staff are scared. Everything’s bad. We got into the building yesterday, it’s all destroyed.”

Gade said no one was inside the building when the incident happened, noting one staff member was running late and Gade was still a few minutes from showing up.

“There’s no way we could have got out. If we did get out, we would have been covered in flaming gasoline as we got out.”

Gade said there are five radio stations that run through this building. The master control was destroyed in the fire, he said, meaning all five stations are now off the air.

Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.