Downtown Vernon fire considered suspicious

The City of Vernon said 30th Street will remain closed to foot and vehicle traffic through the night Tuesday, but 29th Ave. will reopen after work at the site is complete.

— Original Story —

The fire that leveled a building in Vernon’s downtown core is being considered suspicious in nature.

“At approximately 2:20 in the morning [of July 4] crews were returning from another call and one of the engine companies noticed a fire down the back alleyway [off 30th Street behind Classy Canine Grooming and the Okanagan Eatery]” Vernon Fire Chief David Lind told reporters Tuesday.

“They stopped, and as they were backing up, dispatch provided a new note of a fire on the 2800 block of 30th Street here in Vernon. The fire was located on the south wall and as crews approached they determined the fire had started on the outside of the structure.”

Lind stated crews initiated their attack and entered the building, encountering heavy black smoke. They backed off and set up a defensive attack.

As of noon Tuesday, crews were still on the scene of the blaze, attacking hot spots and flare ups.

The investigation into the fire has been handed over to the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP, but Lind stated there were some possibilities to consider.

He indicated the fire could have started spontaneously, as there were “a multitude of different ignition sources” in the area. He also had not ruled out the fire being started deliberately, or if it was an electrical fire.

No injuries have been linked to the blaze.

“We did have an occupant escape with his dog early on, and at this point, everyone’s accounted for,” Lind said.

The fire chief added the building had to be demolished as the fire was entrenched deep in the structure.

The entire building was demolished so fire crews could get to the fire deep inside the structure (video by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

He noted the affected building did not have a sprinkler system, adding he did not know when the last fire inspection was done at the building.

While the affected building was leveled in the blaze, the surrounding buildings, including the North Okanagan Friendship Centre, seemed to have been spared any serious damage.

“This building had a fire separation, and that’s actually really important because there was a structure attached directly to this building and it’s still standing and relatively undamaged so that’s a very good sign,” Lind stated.

“We’ve assessed the buildings around. There was some smoke, light smoke, in some of the buildings. Their ventilation systems were shut down early, so that’s really been reduced. There’s some remediation happening in some of the buildings around the site. Not extensive damage.”

Lind added the fire department provided an “all-hands-on-deck” response to the fire with support from other agencies both within and from outside Vernon.

“We had RCMP on scene, B.C. Ambulance Services, some of the good folks from City of Vernon Operations were here to make sure we had enough water to handle this fire, and the Armstrong/Spallumcheen Fire Department attended with their ladder truck,” Lind stated.

“At the peak of the event we had three aerial devices on the fire, two fire engines, and a magnitude of 25 to 27 firefighters.”

There was a 19-unit residential building evacuated due to concerns of embers spreading the fire further, and as of noon, the residents were still displaced, though Lind said they planned to get them back into their homes after the power was restored and the fire alarm system in their building was active again.

One ladder truck and one engine were still on the scene at noon, with firefighters attacking hot spots that were flaring up in the debris.

Vernon Fire Rescue Services attacking hot spots at the scene of the downtown structure fire around noon Tuesday, July 4 (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

The area around the scene of the fire was still closed off to foot and vehicle traffic, and Lind stated it would likely remain closed until Tuesday evening as crews were still responding to flare ups at the scene.

The fire knocked out power to 932 B.C. Hydro Customers in the downtown core area at 2:31 a.m., but crews were dispatched to the scene to work on the issue while firefighters battled the blaze. Power was restored at 12:25 p.m.

Major fire in downtown Vernon

by Liam Verster

Downtown Vernon fire considered suspicious

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