Three brush fires, one structure blaze.
It was a busy 12-hour span for Vernon Fire Rescue Services between 11 p.m. Friday, July 16, and 11 a.m. Saturday, July 17.
The first call came in Friday at 11 p.m. about a brush fire in the area of the Vernon Square Mall. Multiple calls about a brush fire in the same general area came 12 hours later, with RCMP attending the Saturday morning blaze.
“Officials at the scene said evidence of a homeless camp was found in the trees and the suspect the latest incident was a campfire that got out of hand,” wrote VFRS on its Instagram page.
A hedge fire at 4:30 a.m. Saturday had crews scrambling to the Chevron station at 32nd Street.
Then, less than five hours later, at around 9 a.m., crews were dispatched to East Hill for a residential fire in the 1500 block of 37th Avenue.
“Upon arrival, firefighters confirmed all occupants were outside of the house and then began actioning the fire, which was on the rear side of the structure,” said City of Vernon communications manager Christy Poirier.
Vernon North Okanagan RCMP, BC Ambulance Service, BC Hydro and FortisBC were also been dispatched to the scene.
The cause of the fire is unknown and will be under investigation.
On its Facebook page Saturday, Vernon Fire Rescue Services thanked the public for the 911 calls about the fires.
“This has been a busy weekend of fire response for our crews with a number of calls last night and today. Even though we’ve been called to multiple incidents last night and today, we’re glad to say no injuries have been reported and all fires have been brought under control quickly.
“Thank you to everyone who has seen a fire and reported it to 911 so we can attend quickly to protect the community. We rely heavily on our community members to be eyes and ears out there, so if you see a fire, please don’t hesitate to call 911 immediately. Every second counts in an emergency and we are ready to serve the community when needed.”
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