Update 6:10 p.m.
Platoon Captain John Kelly says that the owner of 760 Vaughan Avenue, an unused abandoned building, smelled gas when he arrived to check on it . After immediately calling FortisBC, the Kelowna Fire Department was called to be on standby in case something went wrong.
“FortisBC took some test ratings and it was 5,500 parts per million which is really substantial, it’s dropped to 4,000 parts per million so some ventilation is happening in the building,” said Kelly. “The gas has been shut off and we are working to have the electric cut off as well. The wind coming off the lake is pushing the gas away so we are getting some natural ventilation as well. It’s a slow step by step process.”
Update: 5:24 p.m.:
The Kelowna fire department says Fortis has now shut off power and gas to a building near the Sandhill Winery on Richter Street and, as it isolates the cause of the leak, may have to shut off power to the rest of the block.
Once that is done, the fire department says it will open the building and let it naturally vent itself.
The building where the leak occurred is believed to be behind the winery on Vaughan Avenue.
Original story:
Kelowna Fire Department officials are evacuating the Sandhill Winery in the city’s downtown North End at this hour after a reported gas leak.
The leak is believed to be in the area of Richter Street and Vaughan Avenue, close to where the winery is located.
The call came in around 4:50 Monday afternoon.
Firefighters are on scene.
The Capital News has a reporter heading to the scene.
More to come