Neighbours alert father and son to house on fire

KELOWNA – As many as seven people will not be able to sleep at home tonight after a fire damaged a West Kelowna home at around 9 p.m. Thursday night.

A man and his six-year-old stepson were watching hockey in their rental suite on the top floor of a house in the 2900 block of Shannon Lake Road when they were alerted by neighbours that smoke was pouring from the roof.

The resident, who does not wish to be named, was home while his wife was at work at KGH. He says he had no idea the front of his house was on fire.

“It smelled like burning electrical,” he said. “Apparently it started in the front (of the house) but our living room is in the back corner. I didn’t even know until somebody came over. They had seen the smoke.”

The resident, who does not have content insurance, says there are four people renting the downstairs portion of the house. The owner, he says, lives in Vancouver.

Investigators determined that the fire was started by a cigarette that was not disposed of properly. West Kelowna Assistant Fire Chief Chad Gartrell says that all the tenants are accounted for and will be looked after by Emergency Support Services.

A cat belonging to the upstairs family has not been found but the dog of the downstairs tenants is safe.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca, call (250) 718-0428 or tweet @AdamProskiw.