INSIDE

An ill omen for the barn, at least

A 49-year-old man apparently suffering from mental illness burned down the barn next to the Roof House on Marine Drive because he believed it to be full of ill omens.

When firefighters got on the scene at 5:30 a.m. October 23 fire chief Bill Skinner said the building was fully in flames. “There wasn’t much left,” he said. What was left was the man who lit the fire.

“We were called out due to the fact the suspect was still on the scene and trying to stop the firefighters from putting out the fire,” said Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy Jeff Parks. Local deputies arrested Douglas G. McCubbin of Pemberton B.C. for arson and he was taken to Whatcom County Jail. “He was obviously having mental health problems,” Parks said. McCubbin told deputies he had been in Point Roberts looking for his grandparents’ property but couldn’t find it. He came across the barn and went inside. “He said he saw bird houses in there. Those were bad luck. He lit it on fire,” Parks said. Deputies recorded “observable physical oddities” including burn marks on McCubbin’s arms and chest.

Parks said damage was estimated at $40,000.