Kim Blaschuk was wearing a housecoat as she stood in the Bristol Apartments parking lot on Franklyn Rd. Saturday morning.
At about 7:40 a.m., her apartment building fire alarm went off. She grabbed her kids, a few belongings and got out.
According to Kelowna Fire Department platoon captain Tim Light, a 911 call came in around that time indicating flames could be seen on the deck of apartment 301 at the northwest corner of the building.
“Upon our arrival the deck was fully involved and (the fire) had moved to the apartment above,” said Light.
Thirty-five firefighters responded to the scene Saturday morning, along with several RCMP officers and paramedics.
Light said everyone got out of the building; however, two residents were taken to hospital.
“I’m unaware of the injuries they sustained. It could be smoke inhalation; it was fairly smoky when we got here.”
After an initial investigation, it is still unclear as to what started the blaze.
“We’re going to have an RCMP investigator and one of our investigators go through, talk to the people in the suite and just see exactly what happened.”
Light noted the residents are smokers.
“There’s always that possibility, but as of right now, we’re not ruling anything out.”
Along with the apartments severely damaged by the fire, other apartments in the building were also damaged by smoke.
Blaschuk, who moved into the building one month ago, said her ground floor apartment suffered smoke and water damage. She does not have tenant’s insurance.
Light said several residents were bused to Salvation Army and will be assisted by Emergency Social Services. Residents will not be allowed to return to the building until investigators have gone through the scene.
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
Twitter: @PatersonWade
