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Thursday, March 1, 2012 X Volume 25 No. 18
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FIRE RAVAGES SAHALI APARTMENT BLOCK
Blaze tears through top floor By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
Dozens of residents of a Sahali apartment complex will likely be displaced from their homes after a large fire tore through the top floor of Copper Ridge Court, 1375 Summit Dr., on Wednesday (Feb. 29) afternoon. Emergency crews were called to the building just after 1:30 p.m. for a report of smoke. Firefighters arrived to find smoke billowing from the building’s roof. Within a few minutes, flames could be seen and additional firefighters were called in. At about 2 p.m., Kamloops Fire Rescue (KFR) officials had police shut down traf-
fic on Summit Drive between Notre Dame and Arrowstone drives. By 2:30 p.m., flames could be seen shooting through the roof of the building’s north side and two top-floor units appeared to be fully engulfed. As of KTW press time, firefighters were still battling the blaze. KFR assistant chief Jim Bell said crews believe the fire started in a third-floor laundry room and quickly spread. “It apparently started in that area and it got into the ceiling from that room and started burning in the ceiling,” he said. “It’s very difficult to get at. We are working on it.” Bell described the blaze as “complicated” because of where it was in the building, and estimated there were about
30 firefighters at the scene. Copper Ridge Court resident Kassandra MacCarthy, a student at Thompson Rivers University, said she was shocked to find her building up in flames. “I was walking up and I saw them [firefighters] all running, and I was like, ‘I hope that’s not my building,’” she said. “I was just coming to get my books so I could study.” As of 3 p.m., thick black smoke was still billowing above the building and dozens of curious onlookers had gathered to watch firefighters battle the blaze from across Summit Drive. It’s believed all residents were able to get out of the building safely. Check kamloopsthisweek.com for updates.
Firefighters were called to the Copper Ridge Court apartment complex in Sahali on Wednesday, Feb. 29, to battle a large blaze. Copper Ridge Court consists of two buildings on Arrowstone Drive, backing onto Summit Drive, and the blaze was in the west-facing four-storey building. The fire is believed to have started in the third-floor laundry room before spreading to the fourth floor and roof. Kamloops Fire Rescue officials said there were no reported injuries. Branden Davidson (top) made sure to take his cat, Taffy, while being evacuated, while others residents were cared for on the sidewalk. Jeremy Deutsch photos/KTW