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North Okanagan home total loss after morning blaze

Enderby Fire Department on scene mopping up hot spots
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The Enderby Fire Department responded to a house fire on Gunther Ellison Road around 5 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Brendan Shykora - Vernon Morning Star)

An Enderby home under renovations is a complete loss after a fire broke out in the early morning hours of Thursday.

The Enderby Fire Department responded to calls of a structure fire, a two-storey home, on Gunther Ellison Road around 5 a.m. Oct. 15.

“The occupants were doing renovations so they were not home at the time,” said Enderby Fire Chief Cliff Vetter. “They were staying in a trailer on the property and woke up to the crackling.”

The homeowner said he awoke in the trailer to see flames coming out of the top window of the home. He was able to rescue the family’s three cats from the basement, and within an hour an a half the home was completely destroyed.

Witnesses took to social media to share their accounts.

“It was a huge house fire, even the surrounding trees were crackling,” Jason N Lindsey Norgan wrote in a Facebook post. “Every once in a while you see it flareup.”

Firefighters were in the mop-up phase around 8:30 a.m.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, Vetter said.

The community of Enderby is already rallying behind the affected family.

Tina Knull shared an update in the Happens in Enderby group stating the family who resides in the home is safe.

“Looks like they will need a community get together to rebuild, maybe,” Knull wrote. “We are here if we can help out.”

READ MORE: All accounted for after Enderby structure fire

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@caitleerach
Caitlin.clow@vernonmorningstar.com

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23014430_web1_copy_201022-VMS-ENDERBY-fire-housefire_1
The Enderby Fire Department responded to a house fire on Gunther Ellison Road around 5 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Brendan Shykora - Vernon Morning Star)