Contributed
UPDATE at 5:15 p.m.
The West Kelowna Fire and Rescue Service said it had responded to reports of wildfires in the Talon Drive and Hawkes Boulevard areas, but when they arrived, firefighters found the flames were coming from a travel trailer instead of the surrounding field.
Three engines, two security officers, an investigator and one command staff were sent from the fire halls of Westbank, Rose Valley and Lakeview Heights.
The fire department said the wind-driven fire quickly spread to nearby vehicles, vegetation and construction on the property.
The crews laid a supply pipeline and used large-diameter manual lines for rapid initial demolition, but due to the volume of the site’s materials and the age of the building, the fire was stubbornly put out.
Firefighters had to use chainsaws to cut through the ceiling and enter the hidden spaces of the structure to put out the fire.
The accident was reported to the RCMP, who clarified the causes.
UPDATE at 3:35 p.m.
West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Broland says the crews are cleaning up.
He added that the fire was in a small outbuilding. It spread into the nearby grass, but the crews managed to knock it down.
The cause is being investigated.
UPDATE at 3:25 p.m.
Firefighters now seem to have the upper hand.
They drank a hose to the outbuilding of the 3203 Old Okanagan Highway, and most of the heavy black smoke cleared.
ORIGINAL 15:05
The West Kelowna Fire Department has been called in to fire on the land of Westbank’s first nation.
A structure parked in a field next to a house behind Walmart seems to be engulfed in flames. Another piece of advice was that a mobile home was on fire.
Several photos and videos show black smoke rising towards the site and fire trucks parked nearby.
Castanet has a report on the road to the scene.
Photo: Contributed
The fire appears to be under construction near a house on a property near Walmart.
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