The 70 Mile House Volunteer Fire Department was very busy on March 18.
Fire Chief Jeff Warner said they had a medical call-out in the afternoon, followed by a house fire call-out just before 8 p.m. that evening.
Warner noted they had eight members respond to the fire call-out, with six members in the pumper truck and two in the tender truck when they drove to the fire on Komori Road.
“It was 7:57 p.m. when the call came in, and I could see the glow of the fire as I was leaving the fire hall [in the 70 Mile Subdivision] and heading to the scene,” said Warner. “It really lit up the sky.
“When we arrived, the motorhome was gone but still burning [and later it burned to the ground] and the house was fully engulfed. There weren’t any people in the motorhome or the house.”
Warner said the fire started in the motorhome and spread to a makeshift wood addition, which was between the motorhome and the house, which was still standing but later burned to the ground, too.
The fire chief noted that the only thing still standing on the house when they got set up was the back wall, and they fought the fire from that position.
Eventually, the house was engulfed in flames, and the firefighters’ strategy was to make sure the flames didn’t spread to nearby buildings on the lot and to the next-door neighbour’s structures.
Warner said they had set the pumper, which holds 1,500 gallons of water, and the bladder, which also holds 1,500 gallons of water when it’s full, in the neighbour’s driveway.
However, the fire chief said that firefighters’ efforts were hampered by some people watching the fire who refused to move away so the firefighters could set up and get their hoses closer to the burning inferno.
“I finally had to call the RCMP to ask them to move the group out of the way. One of the spectators told me he wasn’t going to move and said the same to an RCMP officer, but then obeyed the order when he was told he would be arrested if he didn’t move.”
The fire chief said they were on the scene for six hours and poured 6,700 gallons of water on the fire.
“There was a steady flow of water. The tender made three trips for water to the Huber Farm, so that part was good.
“If we got the house fire call earlier, we would have been able to save more.”
As it was, they were able to save a pickup truck that was close to the back wall and some nearby outbuildings.
Warner said the firefighters had to deal with several accelerants – propane bottles and several paint cans – that were in the home when it was burning.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
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