Naramata firefighters were called to a structure fire in the community last night, Monday, Dec. 28.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
December 29, 2015 - 11:57 AM
PENTICTON - A Naramata resident is fortunate damage to his house wasn’t greater following an unusual fire yesterday evening.
Naramata Fire Chief Tony Trovao says the fire department responded to a call of a structure fire on Granite Place around 8:50 p.m. Monday, Dec.28.
Travao says the resident had the fire mostly out by the time firefighters arrived on scene. The fire was contained to a newly installed gas fireplace that firefighters discovered was installed incorrectly.
“We discovered the fireplace had been improperly installed. A piece of plywood had been left between the unit and the gyprock back of the fireplace,” he says.
Travao says the plywood didn’t take a lot of heat to ignite, and could have resulted in a serious fire had there not been gyprock backing it.
Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to ensure there was not further ignition behind the fireplace. Travao says the unit was damaged beyond repair as a result of the incident, and gas supply was shut off by Fortis.
Firefighters also had to contend with extremely slippery and icy road conditions in the community, Travao noted.
To contact a 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.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015