Fire that destroyed Lake Country home not considered suspicious

A fire the tore through a Lake Country home this past weekend was likely sparked by an unattended space heater.

Lake Country deputy fire chief Kynan O'Rourke said firefighters initially received the call about the fire in the 9700 block of Chase Road at roughly 9:48 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. Crews remained on scene until early the next morning.

Witnesses reported flames coming out of the garage and back of the building and the first-arriving firefighters saw the blaze had broken windows and worked its way up to the roof, he said. The house was destroyed.

READ MORE: Large blaze engulfs Lake Country house

No injuries were reported and no one was home at the time, O'Rourke said. It was being rented out and firefighters were able to connect with the owners but not the tenants. An investigation into the cause of the blaze continues but it isn't considered suspicious at this time.

Const. Mike Della-Paolera, with the Kelowna RCMP, said via email, the fire likely started from the “careless use of an unattended space heater” and police are not investigating the incident further.

With colder weather, people begin using alternate heat sources like wood stoves and space heaters which increases the risk for fire, O'Rourke said.

The Lake Country fire department is short-staffed and will hold a recruitment campaign in January. The fire halls in Carr’s Landing and Oyama especially need volunteer firefighters. The locations are challenging to recruit volunteers because of the demographics.

“They’re large farm areas with lower population… there’s not a whole lot of people living in the area but we could definitely use a few more able bodies,” O'Rourke said.

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