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Penticton

Update: 'Hot works' leads to brush fire

by Grant Scott - Story: 78927
Aug 10, 2012 / 10:00 am

A brush fire broke out in the Penticton Industrial area Thursday afternoon after sparks from a job site ignited a camper and the surrounding grassy area.

"It came in as a camper on fire and spreading to trees behind 1250 Commercial Way," says Penticton Assistant Fire Chief Dave Spalding.

"So we dispatched our full on-shift crews, two engines and six firefighters."

Spalding says the crews were on the scene less than four minutes after receiving the call around 4:30 p.m.

When they arrived they found a small camper fully involved and called in some auxiliary units to contain the flames. The fire also spread onto the nearby grasslands and burned a few trees.

The battle took nearly an hour before fire crews could knock the fire down, and they remained on the scene until after 9:00 p.m., for mop up work.

"Just a quick little burst. It looked pretty impressive with the black smoke from the camper, but luckily we didn't have much wind."

The subsequent investigation learned that the fire began on the job.

"It was started by a fellow who was doing 'hot works.' That's the term for grinding and welding in the industry. He was outside doing some grinding and the sparks set something on fire, either the grasslands or the trailer," says Spalding.

The fire was also aided by the dry conditions in the Okanagan and Spalding encourages everyone to remain aware of the increased fire hazard.

"Certainly when doing hot works, whether it's in industry or in your backyard, you should have an extinguisher there and you should have what we call 'a lookout,' or somebody that's actually there just watching your back to make sure nothing goes wrong, and of course in industry, that is a requirement," says Spalding.

No one was reported injured in the fire.

Anyone with pictures or video is asked to email news@castanet.net.

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