Fire causes extensive damage to West Kelowna home

Black smoke and flames could be seen from a West Kelowna home as firefighters tackled the blaze this morning.

Crews responded to report of a structure fire in the 2000 block of Sunview Drive at approximately 10:30 a.m. today, Aug. 6, according to a West Kelowna Fire Rescue news release. 

Upon arrival, firefighters found a single family residence with heavy volumes of both smoke and flame coming from the back side of the house with a possible extension to the neighbouring house.

The firefighters used large hose lines to knock down the large fire, attempting to prevent the fire from spreading to the second home.

"A small grass fire was also ignited by radiant heat in the back portion of the property which was knocked down by the same exposure hand lines. Once the fire was cooled from the exterior crews transitioned to an interior attack to knock down any residual fire in the void spaces," assistant fire chief Chad Gartrell said in the release.

The house next door had minor smoke damage in the attic but didn't catch fire.  

The home's occupants were not home at the time and they have insurance. The damage to the house was extensive and investigators have determined the cause of the fire is not suspicious.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.