Photo: Contributed

Fire crews attend the Cornerstone shelter on Kelowna's Leon Avenue Sunday morning.

UPDATE: 10 a.m.

The residents of Kelowna's Cornerstone shelter will be able to return by midday Sunday after the early morning fire, John Howard Society of Okanagan & Kootenay CEO Patricia Bacon says.

The small fire occurred in the downtown Kelowna shelter at about 4:30 a.m., forcing dozens of residents from their beds.

Bacon says the fire, which was started accidentally, was "small and contained," no one was injured and there was minimal damage to the building.

Power and water have now been restored and residents are expected to be able to return later today.

Cornerstone provides 80 shelter beds for people who are experiencing homelessness in Kelowna. The shelter has been open since 2017, operated by the John Howard Society.

ORIGINAL: 8:10 a.m.

A fire broke out at the Cornerstone shelter in downtown Kelowna early Sunday morning, possibly displacing dozens of people.

The fire started at about 4:30 a.m. at the shelter on the 400 block of Leon Avenue, and responding firefighters arrived to find smoke on the ground floor.

Kelowna Fire Department captain Jason Picklyk described the fire as a “contents fire,” and said the building's sprinkler system had helped suppress the fire before their arrival.

“Ventilation was started right away and crews were able to contain fire to the area of origin and the water damage to the first floor,” Picklyk said. “There was no extension into walls or other floors.”

Paramedics were on scene to assess the residents of the shelter, but no one was taken to hospital.

It's not clear at this time how much damage occurred to the building and whether the shelter will be closed for some time. Castanet has reached out to the shelter's operator, the John Howard Society, for more information.

Cornerstone provides 80 shelter beds for people who are experiencing homelessness in Kelowna. The shelter has been open since 2017.