A cigarette is the likely cause of a Penticton apartment fire that took place at 241 Scott Ave. late last night.
Image Credit: Shannon Quesnel
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
February 05, 2013 - 5:11 PM
A cigarette might have sparked an apartment fire late Monday night.
The fire started in the bedroom of a third floor apartment at 241 Scott Ave. says Lieut. Ken Younghusband, acting-captain of the Penticton Fire Department.
Firefighters saw smoke in the main apartment hallway when they arrived on the third floor. When they opened the apartment door, black smoke was filling the interior, says the lieutenant.
The elderly female tenant had already left the scene and was sent to hospital for inhaling smoke.
The firefighters found a thin wood closet door engulfed in flames which they quickly put out.
No one else was hurt says Younghusband.
After the building's smoke alarm system went off, every tenant evacuated and were left standing out on Scott Avenue in the middle of the night.
One second floor tenant, who did not wish to be identified, says when he heard the alarm, he thought it might have been a false alarm. He went up to the third floor to investigate and smelled smoke. He soon left the building. He thinks the fire might have been in apartment 308.
He was surprised at the fire trucks' quick arrival.
“I was kind of shocked how fast they got here,” he says.
Younghusband explains he is not surprised how fast fire crews responded. The building has an alarm system that alerts the fire hall. Other buildings, typically older ones, do not have their fire alarm system hooked up with the fire department. In those cases firefighters must rely on tenants to make the 911 call.
The building's manager declined to comment on last night's events. He said it is under investigation.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013