Pair of fires in Lake Country doused quickly by firefighters | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Pair of fires in Lake Country doused quickly by firefighters

OYAMA – A pair of fires last night kept the Lake Country Fire Department and forestry firefighters busy in the Oyama area.

Around 8:07 p.m., July 2, the first call came in for a fire at a gravel pit on Rawsthorne Road north of Oyama near Kalamalka lake. Lake Country Fire Department Duty Officer Eric Degelder says crews from three stations converged at the scene.

“Roughly 20 guys responded with a couple engines and couple bush trucks,” he says.

B.C. forestry crews also arrived to help out as well.

One structure was destroyed, an office in a trailer, and one vehicle, but no people were injured. Embers from the fire floated above the firefighters Degelder says, and lit some nearby grass on fire as well, leading to a couple trees catching.

“The wind didn’t help us either, “ he says. “It was probably about two hours to control it.”

He says crews were mopping up the scene until around 11:30 p.m. A caretaker for the site stayed on scene overnight to make sure it didn’t start up again.

Degelder says the fire was likely caused after a pile of oily rags were heated up by the sun, but an investigation will follow.

Crews were called out a second time at 12:47 a.m. today, July 3, after a fire was reported in grassland on Carr’s Landing Road. When they arrived they found a blaze about 200 m in diameter.

Due to a lack of wind the second blaze was doused quickly. Degelder believes it was likely started by a cigarette butt, but a B.C. forestry team will be investigating.


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