Osoyoos Fire Rescue gave post-fire shout-outs to those who lent helping hands to battle Friday’s blaze on Main Street.
The fire began around 12:30 p.m., along the 8500 block, and resulted in a water quality advisory issued by the Town of Osoyoos.
On social media, Osoyoos Fire Rescue said crews limited the damage to nearby buildings, and that “the training, drive and dedication of our paid-on-call volunteer firefighters needs to be recognized.”
“They tear themselves away from their private lives to protect yours and today they sacrificed their personal health, safety to make the chaos better.”
It also thanked the Anarchist Mountain Fire Dept., and the Oliver Fire Dept. for providing additional assistance, plus town staff who “worked tirelessly to provide support when we needed it the most.”
The town’s water quality advisory was still in effect as of Saturday afternoon.
The store where the fire happened, Loco Amigos, is currently boarded up.
A neighbouring store, Unity Clothing, posted a thank you on social media to the firefighters.
“We can’t thank you enough for everything you did to save Unity today,” reads the post. “The building next door was destroyed by a fire and we are feeling very fortunate to still be here.”
The post continued, saying “it was a reminder of how easily fires can spread on Main Street and how fortunate we are to have such an amazing group of men and women fighting fires in our community.”