By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
The building housing the rifle range at the Osoyoos Gun Range suffered a fire last Thursday which resulted in its complete destruction.
According to Osoyoos RCMP commander Sgt. Jason Bayda an RCMP officer was conducting general patrols on Oct. 3 when he observed a fire in the 115th Street and Strawberry Creek Road area at 1:15 a.m.
The officer drove to the area to investigate and found an outbuilding on the Osoyoos gun range property to be fully engulfed in fire.
Bayda said the officer woke up the caretaker in a different building and was able to confirm the engulfed building was unoccupied.
“The cause of the fire is unknown but does not appear to be suspicious,” he added.
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A spokesperson from the Osoyoos Wildlife Federation which operates the gun range said a member of the board received a call in the early morning hours of Oct. 3 informing him of the fire.
The spokesperson said the gun range facilities have recently been renovated and noted that only the rifle range was destroyed with the pistol range and clubhouse unscathed. He also noted the irony of losing the building to fire after surviving last year’s Eagle Bluff wildfire which burned very close to the gun range.
“One sort of disappointing factor is that because it’s outside of the town boundary, that meant that the fire department couldn’t actually access it without provincial approval,” he added.
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Osoyoos Fire Rescue (OFR) Deputy Fire Chief Ryan McCaskill confirmed the department was unable to proceed without official approval from the BC Wildfire Service due to the fact the structure is on Crown Land.
McCaskill said an OFR truck was stationed at the gate to the area to monitor the situation in case the fire spread to adjacent areas. A call was put into BC Wildfire with a response that they would handle it with their own crew, McCaskill said.
A membership meeting is scheduled for Oct. 23 at which time discussions on rebuilding and fundraising efforts will take place. Demolition of the remains of the structure will take place next week, he said.
The gun range has been a feature of the local community since it was established in the late 1950s. There are nearly 120 members currently.
