Extensive fire damage

UPDATE: 7:13 p.m.

A fire has caused extensive damage to the Valley Wood Remanufacturing mill in Lumby, said Lumby Fire Chief Tony Clayton.

"We've got (the fire) knocked down," Clayton said almost four hours after firefighters from five North Okanagan departments were called in. "We're going to do overhaul as far as we can...because we don't trust the structure. We'll only do what is safe to do in the dark."

Clayton said a crew would stay on the site at Dure Meadow Road overnight to work on hot spots with more teams returning tomorrow.

However, he stressed that a structural engineer may have to be brought in to inspect the charred building before firefighters enter the structure.

"There is very extensive damage," Clayton said.

UPDATE: 5:35 p.m.

A fire at Valley Wood Products in the Lumby area could take hours to battle, even in to Wednesday.

The fire is said to have started near the planer in the mill around 3:30 p.m. with a black cloud of smoke billowing into the sky, according to witnesses.

Fire tender and pumper trucks from Lumby, Coldstream, Lavington, Armstrong-Spallumcheen and BX/Swan Lake fire departments rushed back and forth from the scene of the mill fire on Dure Meadow Road to get water to fight the blaze.

"There's not enough water on site," said a former local fire official who did not want to be named. "The building also looks like it is post beam construction with a bit of insulation between two metal sheets so they can keep the fire down but it is difficult to put out. This could go on into tomorrow."

Flames could be seen on the west side of the building and part of a wall had warped due to the heat.

No one was injured, according to one man who's son works at the remanufacturing plant.

UPDATE 4:47 p.m.

The fire is at Valley Wood Products on Dure Meadow Road.

Witnesses said part of one wall has buckled because of the heat, but firefighters seem to have gotten the upper hand.

There is speculation a piece of equipment inside the building overheated and caught fire but this has not been confirmed.

ORIGINAL STORY

Firefighters from Lumby, BX/Swan Lake, Coldstream and Lavington are converging on a large fire in Lumby, on Dure Meadow Road.

Witnesses tell Castanet a plume of smoke can be seen from Coldstream.

Castanet has a reporter en route and will have more details as soon as they become available.

Send your pictures and information to [email protected].

- with files from Kate Bouey