2 children burned by suspicious liquid on bear statues in Kelowna park

Two children suffered burn-type injuries Easter Monday after coming into contact with a grizzly bear statue in a downtown Kelowna park.

Elizabeth Jacobson says she was out for a morning walk with grandkids Emma, 6, and Kalum, 19 months, in Kelowna City Park when they came upon the bear sculptures.

"My little grandson wanted to kiss the bear, then he put his cheek against the big bear's ear," she told Sarah Penton, the host of CBC's Radio West.

"Almost instantaneously, he started grabbing at his tongue and scratching it, trying to get whatever was on it off. She [Emma] inadvertently put her fingers in her mouth, and her tongue got quite burned and it was swollen."

She said the two children were screaming in pain from swollen faces and lips.

Jacobson says she found some red and orange fluid on the statues' surface, and believed the children were irritated by hot sauce or bear spray.

A day later, her daughter reported to RCMP what she says she suspects is an act of mischief similar to the one that occurred last week in Port Moody, B.C. 

In that incident, suspected hot sauce was deliberately smeared on high touch surfaces of playground equipment at Aspenwood Elementary School, which caused seven children to be treated for minor burns.

Statues washed

Jacobson says she tried everything to calm her grandchildren and wound up getting a little container of cold milk and ice-cream to soothe the burns to their skin and tongues.

She says her daughter took the kids to a local pharmacy for a topical cream to apply to the burns.

"It's not till around suppertime that it had all calmed down," she said.

"We're very thankful … that none of the kids touched their eyes, because that would have been not fun at all."

In an emailed statement, Kelowna RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Tammy Lobb says it's too early to speculate whether irritating substances were deliberately smeared on the concrete bear statues, which were installed in 1998 as part of the City of Kelowna's public art program.

Tom Wilson, with the city, told CBC staff washed the statues down the following afternoon.

But Jacobson says there were still traces of the substance on the statues' surface when she returned Wednesday morning.

"I did wet my finger and put it on the part where Kalum had licked and then put it on my tongue, and the tongue is a little tingly," she said. "I'm hoping that the city will go again and wash it a couple more times."

Jacobson says, in future, she will bring hand sanitizer and baby wipes when going to parks with her grandchildren, making sure to clean the kids' hands and playground railings.

She says she hopes people will treat each other nicely and not do any more mischief.

"Kids are innocent and they just want to play. Just coming out of the pandemic, you'd like to be able to go out into the park and to play."