It was a devastating fire that could could have had deadly consequences.
When a blaze started at the Guisachan Village condo complex at the corner of Gordon Drive and Cameron Avenue in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, most residents were sound asleep.
“There was pounding on the door,” Leo Loyva said.
Loyva, who lives right next door to where the fire started, said both he and his wife were sleeping when flames broke out just before 1 a.m.
“My wife was sleeping on the couch in the front room and she went to see what the noise was outside,” he said. “She heard the neighbors all hollering and then she opened the door…they said there was a fire.”
Luckily everyone managed to get out alive.
In the end, two units were destroyed, four others damaged.
While some residents have told Global News that they believe the fire was related to drug activity, the Kelowna Fire Department (KFD) says the cause is undetermined and that the investigation is being stalled because of safety concerns.
“Unfortunately, we can’t do much for an investigation,” KFD fire inspector Rick Euper said. “The building is compromised, the upper floor is compromised and could come down any time so it was deemed unsafe to enter the building so unfortunately we have not been able to get in.”
It means the structure will have to be pulled apart before fire and insurance investigators will be allowed in to try and determine a cause
The unit, where the fire began, was home to a mom and her son and the fire department is hoping they too can shed some light on how the fire began.
“We are still in the process of interviewing the people that were involved,” Euper said. “I know we are getting help with the police, we’re just trying to track them down and find out what actually happened.”
Residents in the unaffected units were officially allowed back in on Thursday.
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