Update: 7 p.m. July 26
No one was injured in the fire that destroyed a large portion of a house on Sixth Avenue SE near Little Mountain Park in Salmon Arm Thursday afternoon.
Salmon Arm Fire Chief Brad Shirley reports that “there is a portion of the inside of the house that has significant damage.”
Firefighters were called just before 5 p.m. to the home at 3110 Sixth Ave. SE, where they found the two-storey structure “fully involved” in flame.
Flames could be seen shooting through the roof, so crews carried out a defensive attack, knocking down the fire from the outside.
“Once we felt it was safe we entered the structure and looked for any fire extension throughout the home,” Shirley said.
“There was no family home at the time of the fire, fortunately, so there were no injuries.”
He adds that none of the firefighters were injured, despite it being a hot day to be working in all the firefighting gear. Crews were kept well-hydrated, he says, and he expressed his appreciation for ambulance personnel who make it standard practice to be on site to check on the firefighters.
“We certainly commend them for that.”
He also thanked the on-call firefighters for carrying out a quick knock-down of the fire and preventing it from spreading to neighbouring areas.
As for the cause, Shirley says it’s too early to determine, but it will be investigated tomorrow.
Update: 5:31 p.m.
The 3100 block of Sixth Avenue SE, near Little Mountain Park, is blocked off as fire crews continue extinguishing the fire in a two-storey home there.
An Observer reporter at the scene says the attack focused initially on the centre of the roof as flames devoured it – but it has been reduced to smoke. However, the roof is badly damaged and firefighters are dumping water on the back of the residence as well.
It appears firefighters were readying to enter the residence once the flames died down.
The fire department was alerted when several people began calling 911 about 5 p.m.
Original
Fire crews are on scene of a structure fire at 3110 6th Avenue Southeast.
A roof of a home is engulfed in flames, and emergency crews are on scene.
The blaze was first reported just before 5 p.m.
BC Ambulance is on standby.
#SalmonArm update … units on scene in full attack mode
— Shuswapscanner (@Shuswapscanner) July 27, 2018
More to come.
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