Houseboat destroyed, tragedy averted

Families from Ontario and Saskatchewan won’t soon forget their summer vacation to the Shuswap.

The 21 extended family members were on a rented houseboat that caught fire on Mara Lake near Sicamous Tuesday morning while most of the occupants were sleeping.

Dr. Jon Witt, who was with the group, first spotted the fire in a generator compartment and alerted everyone to wake up and get off quickly, preventing a tragedy as the boat was destroyed.

The Office of the B.C. Fire Commissioner told Global News the amount of damage will make it very difficult to pinpoint the exact site and cause of the fire which at this point is undetermined.