One woman was taken to hospital Wednesday morning in Penticton after being carried from a burning mobile home by firefighters.
Penticton’s fire chief said the woman is 70-years-old and suffered second-degree burns on 60 to 70 per cent of her body.
A neighbour said the victim has lived in the park for around three years.
The woman’s dog did not survive the fire.
The Penticton Fire Department was dispatched to a mobile home fire at Riva Ridge mobile home park before 7 a.m., Wednesday.
WATCH BELOW (Aired April 22, 2019): Fire victim talks about losing her belongs and her pets
When firefighters entered the burning building with hose lines, they found the victim and brought her out of the mobile home to an ambulance.
An Oliver man who tried to rescue the woman before fire crews arrived said she was still conscious and speaking after she was pulled for the home.
Shane Crant said he noticed the black smoke from the fire as he was driving to work with a friend and drove to the scene.
Crant said they arrived at the blaze before firefighters and found the neighbourhood still asleep.
WATCH BELOW (Aired Jan. 19, 2019): Two escape flames in Peachland
They honked their horn and banged on doors and windows to wake people up.
“I ran in and smashed the window out and tried to attempt to pull her out, but it was too heavy for me with my shoulder surgery.”
Crant said he got her halfway out, but “it was black and I couldn’t do anything. I had to leave her because of my shoulder.”
He estimates firefighters arrived and were able to rescue the woman roughly three or four minutes later.
The fire department has not yet had a chance to investigate whether there was a smoke alarm in the mobile home.
WATCH BELOW (Aired Feb. 11, 2019): One person dead, firefighter injured in suspicious Penticton house fire
The blaze spread to a second mobile home, but by 8:30 a.m., it was considered contained to the two mobile homes, and fire crews were mopping up.
The damage to the mobile homes is significant, and residents will not be able to return in the near term.
The fire department believes three residents have lost their homes in the fire, but that number hasn’t been confirmed.
Emergency social services will be brought in to help the displaced residents.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
The blaze was right next to a vacant lot where another mobile home had been destroyed last December.
– with files from Kelly Hayes and Shelby Thom
Comments