Wind-driven trailer fire

UPDATE: 8:55 p.m.

Kelowna Fire Department says a mobile home on the 5000 block of Chute lake Road was heavily damaged.

However, firefighters were able to retrieve important personal effects from inside.

The fire will be investigated Wednesday, said Platoon Capt. Tim Light.

KFD responded with three engines a rescue vehicle, command unit and safety truck, along with 15 personnel.

No one was injured in the blaze.

UPDATE: 7:05 p.m.

Strong westerly winds made fighting a mobile home fire on Chute Lake Road all that more difficult for Kelowna fire crews Tuesday evening.

“It was wind-driven,” confirmed Platoon Capt. Tim Light of Kelowna Fire Rescue at the scene of the blaze. “It being on a bit of a knoll here, there's not much protection from the wind.”

Light said sparks from a shed fire probably carried onto the roof of the residence and started the second blaze.

“There is heavy fire damage in the attic of the mobile home. We are pulling down the ceiling, trying to get at hot spots before the wind picks up.”

No one was home at the time of the blaze and firefighters had confirmation the residents were out of town.

Light refused to speculate on the cause of the original fire and added that an investigator would be at the scene on Wednesday.

“Initial reports from witnesses was that a hedge at the front was on fire.”

ORIGINAL: 5:50 p.m.

Four Kelowna fire department crews responded around 5:25 p.m. Tuesday to a fully-involved structure fire on the 5100 block of Chute Lake Road in the Upper Mission area.

A mobile home in a trailer park caught fire, and windy conditions made the fight more difficult for crews.

Around 6 p.m., black smoke could still be seen pouring from the structure as a firefighter on a ladder used a hose to spray the roof.

Chute Lake Road was closed to traffic near the turnoff with Upper Mission Drive.

The fire brought back bad memories for Patti Arcand who lived next door to the structure which charred the side of her own residence.

“We lost everything in a house fire in Rutland four years ago,” said Arcand, who had only moved to the area six months ago.

With tears in her eyes, Arcand said she and her husband moved after the house was rebuilt.

“This is just bringing back way too many memories.”

The couple have never met the owner of the burned home who, Arcand was told, is in hospital awaiting a lung transplant.

A fire earlier Tuesday afternoon on Chute Lake Road destroyed a shed, neighbours said.