Firefighters extinguish small West Kelowna wildfire

WEST KELOWNA – People with shovels helped put out a human-caused grass fire in West Kelowna late yesterday afternoon.

West Kelowna assistant fire chief Darren Lee says in a media release firefighters were called to the trail network at the end of Rose Ridge Court in the Rose Valley subdivision at approximately 4:05 p.m. yesterday, Oct. 9.

Lee says crews arrived to find people had hiked into the trail network and used shovels and other hand tools to fight the small grass fire and burning log.

Firefighters finished the job.

“The fire was located in a well-used trail network where the Westbank First Nation, supported by West Kelowna Fire Rescue, had completed significant fuel management work over the past several years,” Lee says in the release. “This fuel management work, the actions of residents and the cooling wildfire conditions helped prevent this fire from spreading.”

Lee says the exact cause of the fire is under investigation.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw or call 250-718-0428 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.