Kelowna Fire Department uses ladder truck to unlock 5th-floor apartment

When it comes to firefighter training, crews are most often trying to get people out of their homes, but opportunity knocked for the Kelowna Fire Department on Thursday evening, offering a less common training exercise.

According to the fire department, people living in an apartment along St. Paul Street were accidentally locked out, with their dogs still inside.

The fire department said the resident phoned them for help, noting the door had a special lock, but that fire crews could gain access to the fifth-storey apartment via the patio, and that crews would be able to open the apartment door from inside.

However, when crews reached the patio — via a ladder truck — they found it too had a door that was locked.

Eventually, the fire department unlocked the patio door, gained access to the apartment and opened it from the inside.

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Overall, six firefighters were on scene.

The fire department says it has three vehicles with aerial devices, which are used many times throughout the year.

It says they are brought to a variety of incidents, such as fires involving multi-level homes, townhomes and apartment buildings.

“It’s fantastic training, it’s great public service,” Light said of Thursday’s incident.

“We have some new guys and for them, it would have been fantastic training … hands-on getting people into a locked apartment, hands-on with the aerial apparatus.”