Flames cause major damage to Oliver home

Photo: Contributed

Oliver firefighters battled a blaze at a home Sunday night, which sent large plumes of dark smoke into the air off Hwy 97.

Around 8 p.m., the Oliver Fire Department responded to the fire just east of the highway, near Fairview Road and Oliver Alliance Church.

“Upon arrival, we did have heavy smoke coming from the front door,” said Rob Graham, deputy fire chief for the Town of Oliver.

The smoke was coming from a room, which eventually turned into heavy flames on the front side of the building.

No injuries were reported, and residents were able to leave the home safely. Additionally, no occupants or pets were inside when the fire department arrived.

“Heavy fire damage [was caused to] about a quarter to about half of the residence, but there will be some significant smoke and water damage,“ added Graham.

Crews were on scene for about two hours, and were “able to get it knocked down fairly quickly,” preventing the fire from spreading throughout the building.

“We did have a fire crew remain on scene until about midnight, just to check for hotspots and make sure that no further flare ups would happen and then it was turned back over to the homeowner.”

No cause has been determined at this time.

“Being that was right on the highway, we did have some traffic control setup and everybody was pretty good about slowing down and being aware of the situation there."

Graham said there were no delays for equipment to arrive on site, which is helped when people stay clear of a response area.