In sweltering heat, Osoyoos firefighters fought to contain a blaze early Wednesday afternoon at Acacia Ct. and Oleander Dr. It appeared the fire gutted a shed, and firefighters were busy spraying the nearby house with foam to prevent the fire from spreading. (Richard McGuire photo)
The quick and professional work of 20 volunteer firefighters helped save a large home from catching fire after an adjacent shed went up in flames last Wednesday afternoon.
Osoyoos firefighters were called to a blaze at a home located at Acacia Court and Oleander Drive in Osoyoos around 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon during a blistering hot summer day.
One of the owners of the home said the fire started when a hydro wire snapped and fell to the ground, which caused hedges on her property to ignite.
Eventually, the fire spread to a storage shed at the back of her property and was destroyed.
The owner said the volunteer firefighters who arrived on the scene did a tremendous job.
“They saved my house,” she said. “Five more minutes and it would have been gone.”
Several of her neighbours tried to douse the fire that started in the hedges, but couldn’t contain the blaze after it spread to the shed.
Fire Chief Rick Jones confirmed the fire started when a hydro wire fell to the ground.
If it wasn’t for the quick work of the 19 volunteer firefighters who showed up to battle the blaze, there’s little doubt the house would have been lost too, said Jones.
“We lost the shed, but the guys worked extremely well to save the house,” said Jones. “The house lost some decking on one side and one window blew out because of the heat, but fortunately the wind was blowing the right way and the inside of the home didn’t sustain much damage at all.”
Mother Nature plays a role in virtually every house fire and it was no different with this incident, said Jones.
“We were very lucky the wind was blowing the fire away from the home … or it would have been much worse,” he said.
A second fire truck was brought in to pour water and foam on a hillside that was leading up to numerous other homes at the top of a ridge behind the shed that was gutted, said Jones.
“We brought in the second truck to try and prevent the fire from going up the hill to some houses on the top of the hill,” he said. “The wind was trying to blow flames up the hill, but the guys did a great job knocking it down.”
Firefighters did a great job having the blaze under control in a matter of minutes, said Jones.
No one was reported injured as a result of this fire.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
In sweltering heat, Osoyoos firefighters fought to contain a blaze early Wednesday afternoon at Acacia Ct. and Oleander Dr. It appeared the fire gutted a shed, and firefighters were busy spraying the nearby house with foam to prevent the fire from spreading. (Richard McGuire photo)
In sweltering heat, Osoyoos firefighters fought to contain a blaze early Wednesday afternoon at Acacia Ct. and Oleander Dr. It appeared the fire gutted a shed, and firefighters were busy spraying the nearby house with foam to prevent the fire from spreading. (Richard McGuire photo)
In sweltering heat, Osoyoos firefighters fought to contain a blaze early Wednesday afternoon at Acacia Ct. and Oleander Dr. It appeared the fire gutted a shed, and firefighters were busy spraying the nearby house with foam to prevent the fire from spreading. (Richard McGuire photo)
