Damage tally reaches $100,000 in latest suspicious fire in Vernon

VERNON, B.C. – The latest suspicious fire in Vernon, B.C., was an expensive one.

Damage from the Monday night fire at the Growers Supply Company in the north Okanagan city has been tallied about $100,000.

Firefighters say as many as 1,000 empty apple bins burned, but quick work saved another 9,000 of the big containers.

The incident is considered suspicious because the apple bins were stored in a pile at the back of a locked lot and the fire began at the rear of the pile — also scorching a fence.

An exact cause is still under investigation but at the peak of the blaze, flames were leaping 30-metres into the air and officials say an aerial ladder truck was needed to pour water from above, while crews on the ground kept the fire from spreading.

Twenty-two suspicious fires have been recorded around Vernon since late May. (CKIZ)