It’s been a week since a presumed-vacant building went up in flames along Kelowna, B.C.’s Casorso Road.
Micheal Praught and his dog narrowly escaped serious injury while fleeing the burning building last Monday by jumping out of a second-storey window.
“I mean, we had, like, seconds to get out,” Praught said. “It was just smoke, I couldn’t see nothing. By the time I got out and got the dog out, that was it.”
Praught and his dog made it to a ledge on the second storey before bystanders came to help them down. The dramatic scene was captured on video.
A woman was also inside at the time and escaped but not before suffering serious injuries. Praught says the woman is still in hospital.
“My ex-girlfriend, she had to jump out the second-story window like that. She broke her tailbone and has third-degree burns,” he said.
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The building had supposedly been vacant for some time, though police told Global News they were trying to confirm if squatters were at the residence, which neighbours believed to be the case.
“At the time, we didn’t know that it was an occupied residence or a building that was occupied,” fire Chief Larry Watkinson said last Tuesday.
“We had reports from the owner confirming that no one was residing at that occupancy.”
However, Praught says he had been living there for nearly two years.
“Yeah, I was there full-time as security more or less, staying there,” Praught said. “He gave me a good deal on it, and I was staying there and took care of the property.”
Global News was not able to confirm Praught’s arrangement with the property owner.
Two weeks before the fire, a neighbour contacted city bylaw services with concerns about the property and potential squatters in the area.
At that time Praught says he was given a warning to clean up a large number of tires adjacent to the building.
“Bylaw Services attended the Casorso property 5 times in the past two years,” the City of Kelowna said in an email to Global News.
“Four of those files were dealt with and closed. The fifth was opened in early July and was being dealt with before the fire.”
In the email, the city also outlined how it addresses problems with uninhabited buildings, which includes having bylaw services respond to and investigate complaints from the public.
The city and fire department also provide a framework for how vacant properties should be cared for and if the owner fails to meet that framework, city employees can bring the property up to standard at the expense of the owner.
Meanwhile, Praught believes a discarded cigarette in the backyard may have caused the blaze, however, an investigation is still ongoing.
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