Neighbours, firefighters team up to take down Glenrosa grassfire

WEST KELOWNA – Fire season isn't over yet but it is getting better.

Last night, fire crews responded to a small grass fire in the West Kelowna neighbourhood of Glenrosa, but not before residents near Pleasantview Road tried tackling it with hoses and buckets.

Darren Lee, assistant chief of West Kelowna Fire Rescue says the fire gave off plenty of smoke and he took every precaution, calling in more crews. The wildland area in the neighbourhood stretches for several kilometres of parkland and just a month earlier could have had dramatically different results.

Instead, the fire that was called in shortly before 6 p.m. was snuffed so quickly, B.C. Wildfire crews seconded from the nearby Finlay Creek wildfire west of Peachland were turned back. 

"The fire was surrounded with a hand-guard and thoroughly cold-trailed to ensure that there are no remaining hot-spots," Lee says in a release. 

It also appears the worst fire season on record had little effect on someone in the area: The fire is human caused and deemed suspicious. 

"The investigation at the scene has been concluded and the fire has been turned over to the West Kelowna RCMP," Lee says. 

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