An urban wildland fire occurred at roughly 8 p.m. behind the RE/MAX on the Cariboo Trail, beside Care Free Manor.
“Not sure of the cause at this point but we managed to suppress the fire before it got to any of the buildings and surrounding homes. I was a bit concerned with the smoke going into Care Free Manor, which is a care home facility, so we [were] able to shelter them in place and have their windows closed. So, they didn’t have any breathing difficulty because of the smoke,” said Fire Chief Roger Hollander.
Paramedics were also on the scene to assess if any of the residents at the facility had any difficulties.
100 Mile House Fire Rescue responded with all five apparatuses and 13 personnel.
They haven’t been able to estimate the size.
“We are still suppressing the fire now, so I haven’t had a chance to walk around and see how large it is, but it was in this empty lot here in between the homes so we are working it now,” said Hollander. “If I were to measure it here, I’d say it’s about a half acre.”
The fire’s cause is still under investigation.
David Jurek of RE/MAX was the first to discover the fire and report it.
“I came out of the office to lock my truck up, there was nothing and I locked the front of the building and went around I just saw smoke,” he said. “I didn’t know if it was a vehicle smoking going by and then I looked in the alley and it was engulfed in flames.”
He called 911 while he and a friend ran down and started clearing some recycling from the back of the building. A neighbour also poked by and brought out a hose before firefighting personnel were on scene.
“It was hard to believe how green it was, yet it still caught fire and how quickly it spread. Seconds-and it was across the whole thing,” said Jurek.
