2 charged in 3 Williams Lake, B.C., break-ins during wildfire evacuations

Two people have been charged in connection with three separate break-ins in Williams Lake, B.C., that occurred while the town was under an evacuation order due to wildfire.

Nickolas Frederick Ivany, 27, and Alana Mika Ward, 24, have been charged with possession of property which RCMP believe to have been stolen from three evacuated Williams Lake homes.

The charges come after more than 10 arrests were made related to looting in Williams Lake and 100 Mile House.

In a release, RCMP say only three break-ins were reported in Williams Lake during the evacuation order, which lasted nearly two weeks. Four were reported prior to the evacuation, for a total of seven all month.

Insp. Jeff Pelley said in the release that the RCMP will continue to make preventing property crime a priority in areas affected by evacuation orders and alerts due to the ongoing fires.