Smoke from a trailer fire on Westsyde Road in Kamloops can be seen in this photo posted to Twitter, Sunday, May 10, 2015.
Image Credit: Twitter/Tricia @CaseyBratPack
Republished May 10, 2015 - 3:17 PM
Original Publication Date May 10, 2015 - 1:10 PM
KAMLOOPS – Early indications point to a candle, given to a Kamloops mom for Mother’s Day by her children, as the cause of a fire, which destroyed the family’s home today.
Kamloops Fire Rescue was called to a mobile home fire at 1720 Westsyde Rd. just after noon, May 10, and crews arrived to find the trailer fully engulfed in flames.
A thick black plume of smoke could be seen for miles as crews worked to get a handle on the blaze.
Assistant fire chief Dave McMahon says the resident told 911 when she entered the room where the fire started, "she saw the curtains were on fire and it was spreading too fast for her to do anything about it."
The woman and her two children made it out of the trailer safely and waited for firefighters to arrive, he says.
McMahon says fire crews got on top of the blaze rapidly and protected other mobile homes nearby from the flames.
It looks like a candle caused the fire.
“This is really sad if it actually is the case,” McMahon says. “The children had purchased candles for Mother’s Day and I think she had lit one of the candles and exited the room. When she came back the curtains had caught fire.”
The assistant fire chief wants to stress to the public candles can be dangerous if left unattended.
“If this is what caused today’s fire, it was a perfect storm,” he says. “The drapes were caught in the candle’s flame. The fire spread rapidly in the highly combustible material and she’s lost her home as a consequence.”
The woman and her children are in the care of Emergency Social Services.
The approximate location of a house fire on Westsyde Road in Kamloops, Sunday, May 10, 2015.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
— This story was update at 3:09 p.m, Sunday, May 10, 2015 to include information from Kamloops Fire Rescue.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015