Early morning house fire leaves elderly couple homeless
PENTICTON – Fire crews arrived at a fire in Penticton early Thursday morning to find an elderly man trying to put out his burning house with a garden hose.
The man and his wife, who were asleep in their home were awakened by the fire at about 4:30 a.m., Feb. 19 and managed to escape, according to deputy fire chief Dave Spalding.
Spalding says firefirefighters observed heavy smoke and flames as they raced to the scene and called in a second alarm. A third alarm followed when the original crew arrived on scene to find one end of the residence engulfed in smoke and flames. Damage to the house was significant and will likely be considered a write-off.
The couple are in the care of Emergency Social Services and have been put up in a motel.
Spalding says the fire started in an attached greenhouse structure. Fire investigators have deemed the blaze accidental.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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