Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

As icy winds blew, Osoyoos firefighters battled a blaze Saturday night that destroyed a house on 87th Street on the north side of town.

Residents made it out of the house safely and were kept warm by emergency personnel before being taken to hospital in Oliver to be checked out.

Osoyoos RCMP said the fire was reported at 9 p.m. It is believed to have started in the kitchen while one of the residents, a man, was cooking.

When the fire got out of control and spread up the cupboards, the man went to a neighbour’s house to get a fire extinguisher.

A witness visiting the house next door said he grabbed a fire extinguisher, but by then the fire had spread and efforts to extinguish it were futile.

Osoyoos Fire Chief Rick Jones said the building was an older cedar structure with sawdust insulation in the walls and ceilings and the flames spread quickly.

Jones said he arrived on the scene about two minutes after receiving the emergency call, but by then the house was completely engulfed.

Flames spread to surrounding vegetation and leapt into the air, but firefighters were able to prevent it from spreading to nearby structures.

Three fire trucks arrived at the scene, but firefighters had to contend with freezing temperatures and they had to draw water from the lake because there were no hydrants.

Jones said the actual temperature was about -12 Celsius, but with the strong winds, the wind chill put it down into the -21 to -22C range.

“It got really cold and just driving the trucks from the fire to the hall, the pumps froze,” said Jones. “It’s one of those things this time of year we have to be really aware of when we get to a fire that the pumps aren’t frozen already.”

Jones said firefighters were at the scene from after 9 p.m. until the early morning hours and they later returned the next day to add more water.

After bringing the house fire under control, firefighters were then kept busy until dawn as a result of a burst pipe and frozen sprinkler system at two other locations, which set off fire alarms.

With files by Lyonel Doherty.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

Firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a house at 16427 87 Street in Osoyoos on Saturday night. Residents of the house made it to safety and were kept warm by emergency personnel. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen while a resident was cooking. (Lyonel Doherty photo)