Fire severely damages vacant home in Kelowna

Flames were pouring out of second floor windows when fire crews arrived at a fire in an empty house on Lakeshore Road in Kelowna last night.

They had been alerted by several 911 calls about a fire at a home at 3676 Lakeshore Rd. at about 6:30 p.m. yesterday, Jan. 15, according to a Kelowna Fire Department media release.

The crews fought the fire from the exterior of the house and protected other homes to the north and south.

Because part of the burning house collapsed, crews had trouble completely extinguishing the fire.

No one was living in the house at the time.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

The was at property the City of Kelowna bought for $2.7 million in October 2019, as part of a future plan to expand Rotary Park and was about to be demolished.

The City's roads department was going to knock it down as soon as they had enough of a break from plowing snow off city streets, an email from the city's communications department said. 

A City staff member posted a clearance letter on the house on Tuesday, Jan. 14. There were no signs, at that time, of anyone trying to squat there.

 — This story was updated at 11:55 a.m., Jan. 16, 2020, to add information from the City of Kelowna.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, 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.