Blaze razes empty warehouse
West Kelowna Fire Rescue crews were called to an abandoned warehouse on Gellatly Road last week.
West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund said the building was fully involved when crews arrived.
The building used to be a packing house and more recently had been used to store boats.
West Kelowna fire crews quickly found out there was no one in the building and the situation became a defensive firefighting operation, with West Kelowna
Fire Rescue making sure they got the fire knocked down in a safe manner.
About 20 West Kelowna Fire Rescue personnel were on site, staying well away from the building because of a high toxic hazard.
Brolund said the cause of the fire was accidental and was in relation to sparks produced as part of the demolition activities.
Ironically, the building had been empty because it had been slated to be demolished last Wednesday.
“The building met its fate along the same timeline, just maybe a different set of circumstances,” said Brolund.