UPDATE: Crews fight fire in West Kelowna industrial area

West Kelowna firefighters will continue to monitor the building where a stubborn fire broke out in the the Auburn Road industrial area this morning.

West Kelowna Fire Rescue responded to a call about an electrical fire at 6:19 a.m. today, Dec. 27, at Burnco Rock Products on Auburn Road.

Since there was “energized” electrical equipment involved in the fire, crews fought it defensively from outside the building, according to a West Kelowna Fire Rescue news release.

There were concerns that the roof and the building itself might collapse.

At the height of the blaze, there were three engines and a ladder truck along with 19 firefighters on the scene. The fire department had asked the public to stay away. There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

At about 10:30 a.m. most of the fire trucks had left the scene but the ladder truck will likely remain for most of the day to monitor hot spots, assistant fire chief Brent Watson said.

He explained that when crews arrived this morning they were able to enter the building where smoke was coming out of the electrical room.

"They were unable to turn the power off within the building itself," he said. "There was some arcing so they had to back out and wait for B.C. Hydro to turn the power off so we could action the fire."

The fire spread into the ceiling and roof of the building so the ladder truck was used to pour water in from above. Because of concerns of structural damage to the building, it was unsafe to enter.

Watson said the building is likely a write off.

— This story was updated at 10:42 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27, 2019 with the name of the business and a photo.

— This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. to add comment from assistant fire chief Brent Watson.

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