A fire in the early morning hours of Sunday, Jan. 20 destroyed a residence in the 400 block of Brink Street in Ashcroft, beind the Journal building and the Ashcroft Museum. Two people who were in the house at the time were able to escape without injury.
Ashcroft Fire Rescue received a call at 3:55 a.m. on Jan. 20 reporting a structure fire at on Brink Street. When crews arrived they found the building fully engulfed, but were able to ascertain that there was no one in the house.
Seven members of the Cache Creek Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene to provide mutual aid for the 12 Ashcroft firefighters wo were there. BC Ambulance Service, Ashcroft RCMP, and Village of Ashcroft crew were also on hand to assist.
“The two occupants escaped before firefighters arrived,” said Ashcroft fire chief Josh White, adding that since the building was fully involved when crews got there, they went defensive on the fire to prevent it spreading to neighbouring buildings and structures. “The primarly concern when we got there was the Journal building and the TELUS building.”
The wind was blowing from the northeast, sparing the Journal and the Museum. Embers were blown on to the Home Hardware coverall, which sustained some damage.
The outer wall of the TELUS building immediately adjacent to the residence was damaged, and some of the siding had to be pulled back to prevent fire gaining hold behind it. There was no damage to the interior of the building, although it did lose power during the fire. Hydro crews briefly cut power to the area to ensure safety, and TELUS brought in generators to ensure continuity of service. White said that as far as he knew, there was no impact on local phone service.
Ashcroft firefighters remained on site for several hours after the fire was extinguished, to monitor the situation and deal with hotspots. White said that the cause of the fire was under investigation.
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