Update: Friday, 9:45 a.m.
The cause of the Thursday afternoon house fire at Commonage Place on Mission Hill is not yet known. Vernon Fire Rescue Services began its investigation Friday morning, but deputy fire chief Scott Hemstad says it wonsa国际传媒檛 be completed until sometime next week.
Hemstad has begun doing interviews with firefighters who attended the blaze.
sa国际传媒淭hen I need to speak with property owners and check any witnessessa国际传媒� statements, and then go through the scene,sa国际传媒� he said.
More updates will follow as further information comes to light.
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A mothersa国际传媒檚 instinct kicked in immediately as a Vernon mom rescued her one-year-old son from their burning home Thursday afternoon.
The familysa国际传媒檚 Commonage Place home on Mission Hill went up in flames while the youngest was sleeping, shortly after 2 p.m. The family of five, including three boys, have been renters at the home for eight years.
sa国际传媒淚 feel like I should buy a lottery ticket,sa国际传媒� said the father, who did not want to give his name, holding his youngest in his arms after arriving from work. sa国际传媒淢y wife and youngest were able to get out. One son is in Vancouver for the week, and hesa国际传媒檚 usually sleeping in that room (pointing to upstairs window) about this time of day, and my other son was with me.sa国际传媒�
The man said his wife had also thrown the family cat outside, then ran back into the house to retrieve family photos, confirmed by eyewitness Catherine Pynappels of Kelowna, who called 911 when she saw black smoke billowing into the air as she arrived in Vernon to visit her mom.
sa国际传媒淚 saw the flames driving up to the back of the house. It looked like a big cedar at first but then you could see the flames went from the cedar to the back of the house,sa国际传媒� said Pynappels.
sa国际传媒淚 stopped a gentleman a couple of houses over, he was doing his siding, and let him know there was a house on fire a couple over.
sa国际传媒淚 pulled up to the house. The lady had her baby in her arms and she ran back into the house. I went into the house and told her she had to get out.
sa国际传媒淪he was frantically looking for her pictures or her hard drive. I grabbed her and said, sa国际传媒榶ou have to get out.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�
Vernon Fire Rescue Services Chief David Lind, who helped battle the blaze himself, said the cat was found alive and taken to a vet for a check-up.
It is believed the fire started at the back of the house, spread to some bushes and then the home.
Lind said the original call came in to the station as a grass fire.
sa国际传媒淐rews responded and when they got there, they saw flames coming out of the roof of a house,sa国际传媒� said Lind, who was still on-scene nearly three hours after the original call. sa国际传媒淭he crews were able to isolate the fire to the home on fire. They did a remarkable job of preventing the fire from spreading to a neighbouring house. Isa国际传媒檓 very impressed with my team.sa国际传媒�
The neighbouring home to the north did suffer slight damage as some of the homesa国际传媒檚 siding melted from the heat. A car was parked in the driveway and one firefighter could be seen pounding on the front door to alert anyone in the home of the fire next door. Nobody answered. It was later determined the homeowners were away at the time.
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The father of the now-displaced family said they had plenty of relatives in the area that would help look after them as things get sorted out.
Asked if he had insurance, he said he thinks the owner has insurance but he and his family did not have rentersa国际传媒檚 insurance.
sa国际传媒淲e didnsa国际传媒檛 have anything of value thatsa国际传媒檚 not replaceable,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淔acebook buy and sell, you get everything in there for a small price.sa国际传媒�
Investigators will be back at the home Friday to try and determine a cause of the fire.
jennifer@vernonmorningstar.com
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