Fire in abandoned West Kelowna home deemed suspicious

A West Kelowna abandoned home fire has been deemed suspicious, officials say.

West Kelowna Fire Rescue went to an abandoned home fire in the 1800 block of Ross Road on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

“The smoke from this fire was highly visible from Highway 97 during the initial stages,” deputy fire chief Chad Gartrell said.

“The first arriving crew did a great job getting water on the fire early in a defensive strategy to ensure the fire didn’t spread to the neighbouring properties or the surrounding field.”

3:05 Okanagan Responders Gratitude Event in West Kelowna

It was determined that no entry would be made into this structure for fire suppression due to safety concerns for crews but an excavator was brought in later to take the building down so crews could access remaining hidden fires from a safe location.

“This fire is suspicious in nature however due to demolition and suppression activities the cause is undetermined,” Gartrell said.