An Elkhorn business owner is homeless and her son is in custody after a fire last Friday evening destroyed her home.
Dale Marcano owns the Elkhorn Creamee Restaurant on Richhill Ave. and lived in the mobile home behind it. Her 37-year-old son Clayton Marcano was in the home when RCMP officers entered and tried to serve him with a protection order (a court order that forbids the person from contacting the applicant).
Sgt. Paul Manaigre, media relations officer for the RCMP, said when police arrived the man barricaded himself in a bedroom and refused to come out. Three officers negotiated with him for 30 to 45 minutes but were forced to leave when smoke began coming from the bedroom. No one else was in the home at the time.
Manaigre says Clayton Marcano escaped the burning trailer and was arrested at the scene.
Sgt. Joe Frizzley of the Virden detachment says Marcano has been charged with: three counts of arson disregarding human life; one count of arson damage to property; and one count of resisting arrest. Frizzley says the man has a lengthy police record.
Both Wallace District Fire Halls from Elkhorn and Virden responded. Fire Chief Brad Yochim said the home was already engulfed in flames when they arrived.
He says 20 firefighters worked in -20 temperatures to prevent the fire from spreading. Even though the restaurant was just a few metres away from the burning mobile home, it suffered only smoke damage. The owner’s cat had earlier been removed to safety by RCMP officers.
Dale Marcano told the Empire-Advance she’s doing as well as can be expected “when you’re homeless”. When we reached her Monday, she was staying in a Virden hotel and being supported by family members.
She says the restaurant will need to be cleaned but is fine otherwise and she hopes to reopen.
An online biography says she moved to Elkhorn and bought the Creamee about nine years ago.
Manaigre says Clayton Marcano is being held in custody at Brandon Correction Institution awaiting his next court date.
