A single unit at the Highland Inn was gutted by a fire during the early-morning hours on Feb. 16.
Photo: Osoyoos Fire Department
Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
One man was sent to hospital with minor injuries after a fire gutted a single unit at the Highland Inn around 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
Two engines responded to a “well involved” fire that started to break through into the structure of the building, Osoyoos Fire Chief Dave McMahon said.
The lone male occupant was not inside the unit, but was in the vicinity, and was sent to hospital with “minor injuries somewhat unrelated to the fire,” McMahon said.
There was considerable damage to the unit.
“Crews did an amazing job got to work quickly got good knock-down, contained the fire to the unit and stopped it from spreading. I’m proud of what the guys did,” he said.
While fighting the fire at the Highland, a second call came in and firefighters had to send a unit to check on a fire alarm at White Sands complex on Spartan Drive.
“It will definitely stretch any fire department when they have to release resources for another call, but we coped and took care of that at the same time,” McMahon said.
The alarm at the White Sands was a false alarm and crews were able to return to the Highland Inn to continue fighting the fire.
“We’re working through the investigation right now. We are going to take everything into consideration until we can eliminate it so we are working through that process right now,” McMahon said.
