UPDATE: Penticton firefighters battle blaze at mobile home park

PENTICTON – One woman has been taken to hospital in serious condition and a Penticton firefighter is recovering in hospital from heat exhaustion following a huge fire at a Penticton modular home park this morning.

Firefighters responded to Riva Ridge Estates Mobile Home Park just south of Penticton around 7 a.m. today, May 29, to find a mobile home fully engulfed.

Firefighters battled flames that ignited nearby trees and shrubbery, and were unable to stop the fire from spreading to an adjacent unit.

Penticton fire chief Larry Watkinson said firefighters were alerted to a woman trapped in the unit, and were able to effect a rescue after making an interior attack to the structure.

"The firefighter said it was hotter than he'd ever felt in his career," Watkinson said, adding he is doing well. "We're hoping for a speedy recovery."

The woman is being treated at Penticton Regional Hospital for severe burns.

Hampered by a limited water supply and the rescue effort, firefighting efforts couldn't stop the blaze from igniting a nearby modular home after some large cedars ignited.

"It was a challenge," Watkinson said.

Shane Crant and Michael Mulligan were on their way to work this morning when they saw the thick plume of black smoke emanating from Riva Ridge.

Mulligan was initially worried the fire might be his brother’s unit, so the two went into the park to check.

Once they realized it wasn’t Mulligan’s brother’s unit, the two continued up the street to be the first ones on scene.

“We were banging on the doors, there were propane tanks, one blew up, and we had to move my truck, which was parked right out front,” Crant said.

As they went around the unit, they could hear a faint call for help at the back of the building.

“I could barely see the window, because it was engulfed (in flames),” Crant said, but he managed to break the window and get a woman trapped inside part way out before his shoulder gave way. “I told her to get down on the floor.” 

Around the same time, the fire department showed up and Crant told them where the woman was and they were able to extricate her.

Crant said they were going to try to access the unit through the door, but the smoke and flames were too intense.

Crews were mopping up at the scene late this morning. Two units in the modular home park were destroyed in the blaze.

The woman’s condition is not known at this time.

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