Oliver firefighters await instruction as senior officers investigate the origin of smoke reported by a resident at Woodside Villa on the corner of Co-Op Avenue and Kootenay Street Monday. The culprit was a burning pot on the stove in a ground-floor apartment. Nobody was injured, but at least two units sustained smoke damage. Lyonel Doherty photo
Oliver firefighters had a mystery on their hands Monday when smoke filled a top-floor unit of Woodside Villa at Co-Op Avenue and Kootenay Street.
But it turned out to be a pot on the stove that burned some nearby combustibles in a bottom-floor apartment.
Firefighters were called to the scene at approximately 1 pm when the occupant of the top-floor unit reported black smoke coming out of his kitchen fan. But he wasn’t using the fan, he told the Chronicle.
Firefighters began searching the building for the smoke’s origin and found it in the first-floor unit, where the occupants had left a pot on the stove. Firefighters used fans to clear out the smoke, and had a water hose line at the ready.
The owner of the top-floor unit voiced his concern about the cause, saying it could have been devastating for everyone in the building. The units sustained smoke damage, but nobody was injured.
In another call the fire department attended to on June 7, members had some tense moments fighting a blaze that destroyed a mobile home on Thorp Road.
Media relations spokesman Rob Graham said the trailer was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. He noted the occupants were outside at the time and heard a noise inside the trailer. It wasn’t long before flames were shooting out of the structure, Graham said.
The tense moments came when a propane tank caught fire and erupted into a fireball, he pointed out. Firefighters kept cooling the tank with water until the propane bled out, which took about half an hour, Graham said. He noted that firefighters did a good job under the trying circumstances.
No injuries were reported, and no cause was immediately determined. But it wasn’t suspicious, Graham stated. He also noted that the owners did not have insurance.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
