Prince George, British Columbia, is constantly ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in

Canada.

Due, in equal parts to it being one of the larger cities in northern BC, and it being a major

transportation hub.

Prince George rests almost perfectly between a number of much larger cities, including

Juno, Anchorage, Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, and Edmonton.

Because of this location, the city acts as a major crossroad for highways 16 and 97.

The former, which cuts through Canada and connects Alaska to the lower 48, and the latter,

which is more well known by its ominous nickname, The Highway of Tears.

June 19, 1988 was a relatively normal end of spring day for this region, in which the

weather was remarkably mild and nothing seemed too out of the ordinary for Prince George's

roughly 60,000 residents.

That evening, though, emergency services were called to a fire that had begun to rage

out of control at the Carpool Carwash, near Third Avenue and Cassiar Street.

This is an area that is almost equal parts residential and commercial, surrounded by

an industrial district to the immediate north, and downtown Prince George to the south.

A group of onlookers began to gather around at about 930 that evening, as the fire began

to engulf the Carwash itself.

Because of the fire became clear very quickly, a car had been set on fire inside a bay

of this Carwash, seemingly intentionally.

Most responders began to arrive at around 930 pm, and firefighters worked to contain

and extinguish this blaze.

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