Fire deemed suspicious
Madison Erhardt
UPDATE: 3:25 p.m.
Kelowna resident Eric Ponton says he was driving down Sexsmith Road in Kelowna just before 2 p.m. when he saw a cloud of smoke in the distance.
“And I went this is going to spread fast. It was already trying to go towards the building and going down. I went and grabbed my bucket and I went and threw water on it and tried to do what we could with what we had,” he said.
Just a few minutes later the Kelowna Fire Department arrived on the scene to knock down the 50 feet by 50 feet grass fire.
“When it is so dry and so got you have to get everything wet before you can stop the spread, but it is about all we could really do. I mean it could have been a pop can in the dry grass. All it takes is that right combustion mount and it’s gone,” Ponton.
The fire is deemed suspicious.
The Kelowna Fire Department initially responded with four engines, a rescue unit and a command unit including 19 fire personnel.
UPDATE: 2:20 p.m.
Firefighters have now knocked down the small grass fire that was sparked behind a commercial building off Kelowna’s Highway 97 Sunday afternoon.
Fire crews on scene have asked for the RCMP to attend at 3554 Highway 97 N, just south of Sexsmith Road, as the fire appears “suspicious in nature.”
ORIGINAL: 2:05 p.m.
Kelowna fire crews are responding to a small grass fire off Highway 97, just south of Sexsmith Road, Sunday afternoon.
Firefighter were called to 3554 Highway 97 N just before 2 p.m. for reports of smoke behind a commercial building.
Upon arrival, fire crews found an approximately six-foot by six-foot grass fire behind the building, and they are now extinguishing the small blaze.
Castanet will update this story as more information becomes available.