KELOWNA – Two residents of a fire destroyed Kelowna home may owe their lives to a smoke detector.
The two UBCO students were sleeping in their rented rooms in the Monford Road house when the blaze broke out Sunday morning.
Their landlady says it was the screech of a smoke detector that awoke them and allowed them to get out of the home.
“It went so fast they otherwise wouldn’t have stood a chance but the smoke alarm kicked in and saved them. There is a really big lesson: check your smoke alarms are in working order,” says Marie Brooks.
KFD platoon captain, Kelly Stephens, says the fire was well entrenched when crews arrived about 8:45 a.m.
“Unfortunately, the house appears to be a total write-off. But there was some collector cars in the garage that we saved,” says Stephens.
The investigation into the fire cause is being hindered by hazardous conditions inside the house.
“It’s unsafe with all the water that’s frozen, a lot of weight, so we’re going to have to wait until we start taking some of the structure down before we can find out what’s going on,” says KFD fire inspector Rick Euper.
And there was another house fire Sunday in Kelowna. It broke out at about 2:30 p.m.
The only occupant of the Finns Road home is a renter who got out safely. A malfunctioning butane heater is the suspected cause.
“He was trying to keep warm. There was no power or gas to the building. It had been cut off a few days ago,” says Stephens.
The interior of the older house is badly damaged from flames and smoke. It too is likely a write-off.
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