UPDATE:
Shortly after fire crews cleared the scene of a work place blaze on Dominion Road, they rushed to a report of a balcony fire in West Kelowna Estates.
The hero in this case turned out to be a watchful neighbour.
“When we arrived we found that the neighbour who had initially reported the smoke was in the process of putting out a small fire on the deck of a residence,” explains Fire Chief Jason Brolund.
Crews helped fully extinguish the blaze and will now conduct an investigation in to the cause.
“The homeowner was not at home, so we are very grateful for the actions of the neighbour,” says Brolund. “They alerted us to the fire and did what they were able to do safely to prevent it from spreading.”
As the home was in the 1100 block of Pettman Road, Brolund notes that this house is an interface house that connects directly to the forest.
“It is an area of high concern and in this case the fire could have been much worse had it spread to the trees and potentially other homes,” says Brolund.
“This is a great reminder to residents to spend some time on the outside of the house looking for fire smart principles. Things like ensuring the trees are trimmed, your roof isn’t covered in needles, there is a bunch of easy things people can do to prevent situations like this from getting worse.”
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ORIGINAL:
West Kelowna firefighters rushed to the scene after a call came in of smoke coming from home near Bear Creek Road Wednesday morning.
A neighbour in the 1100 block of Pettman Road spotted smoke coming from a balcony and called 911.
When crews arrived they discovered that the neighbour had jumped into action and had already made quick work of the small fire with her garden hose.
More details to come.
