South Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department received a callout for a structure fire at 950 Green Lake South Road at 9:58 a.m. on Dec. 31, and responded with two pumper trucks, and tender truck and 13 firefighters within 24 minutes.
Unfortunately, the cabin was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
The lone occupant made it out of the building with the family dog and a few personal items. Neighbours were able to push the owner’s vehicle out to the road.
Fire chief Peter McKie says they ran two 1 1/2-inch attack lines up to the building to contain the fire and protect exposures, including a shed, outhouse and another vehicle.
“We put 6,450 gallons of water on the burning structure, with two tender shuttles and two pumper tanks. Even with the cold conditions of -18 C, there were only a couple of minor issues.
“It was a well-co-ordinated attack by the firefighters and there were no injuries.”
He notes BC Ambulance Services arrived at the scene around 10:45 a.m., with the RCMP attending at 11:25 a.m. and BC Hydro arriving at 12:25 p.m.
All units returned to the fire hall around 1:30 p.m.
Two firefighters were left at the scene to monitor the smoking and watch for hot spots flaring up.
Some members returned to the scene at 3 p.m. and put 350 gallons of water on the structure. They attended again at 7 p.m. and pumped another 350 gallons on the charred rubble. At that point, the fire was fully extinguished, says McKie.
The owner indicated he was pleased with the fire department’s quick response and was also happy firefighters were able to protect the outbuildings.
