West Kelowna family out of home after afternoon fire

A West Kelowna family has been forced from their home after an afternoon fire that caused hundreds of thousands in damage and killed a family pet.

West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund said at 3:30 p.m., March 15, crews responded to a fire in a single-family home in the Klein Road area of West Kelowna Estates.

"Heavy, black smoke was visible to responding units, and the fire was immediately upgraded to a second alarm," Brolund said, in a press release.

"On arrival, West Kelowna crews found the back of the home heavily involved, with fire spread into the attic space. Several hose lines were deployed to protect exposures and to quickly extinguish the fire."

The fire was successfully contained to half of the house, although the rest of the home was heavily smoke-damaged.

"Two pets were rescued from the home, and were given first aid by West Kelowna crews, including oxygen through a specially designed animal face mask," Brolund said. "At least one other pet did not survive the fire."

The cause of the fire was accidental, and the homeowner has insurance.

Damage is estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Brolund said, and the homeowners will spend the next few days in the care of Emergency Support Services.
 

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