The Columbia Valley’s Newspaper Since 1956
From Canal Flats to Spillimacheen
VALLEY ECHO T he
Wednesday, October 31,2013 2012 Wednesday, March 6,
Vol. 57 56 Issue Issue 40 Vol. 10
invermerevalleyecho.com
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Queen gives nod to Verge for Youth founder Pg A4
Rockies battle, but Ghostriders prevail Pg A14
No cause yet determined in Panorama condo blaze
MaxWell Realty Invermere
Fire in the mountains
KRISTIAN RASMUSSEN The Valley Echo
After day and a half of digging through the charred remains of Panorama Mountain Village's 1000 Peaks Lodge, Columbia Valley Fire & Rescue and the B.C. Safety Authority have produced no leads as to the cause of the Wednesday, February 27th blaze. “Due to the extreme heat in the area of origin, vital evidence was completely destroyed, giving investigators no option other than to deem the cause undetermined,” Fire Chief Jim Miller states in a Regional District of East Kootenay press release. “We have identified where the fire started and although the cause is undetermined, we can confirm that foul-play and human-related activities were not factors in the fire.” The fire, which ripped through the top two PHIL MARSHALL PHOTO floors of the lodge early Wednesday mornPanorama Mountain Village's 1,000 Peaks Lodge became a fi ery inferno in the early hours of Wednesday, February 27, in a blaze where foul play ing, displaced dozens of residents staying at has now been ruled out as the possible cause. In addition to alerting building residents of the fi re, Phil Marshall found time to take this photo. the lodge, including seven members of the Rabbit Hill Ski Steam who were preparing for the U16 CanAm Western Championship. Alnorth stairwell and was joined by another good sa- tinguisher to put the fire out on one side of the deck though visitors were left temporarily homeless by the maritan, Cam Cole. before it ran dry.” blaze, the inferno could have had much more drastic The duo loudly banged on each door they could He returned to the kitchen and filled a garbage can consequences if it were not for the efforts of bystand- find to warn resident of the quickly escalating with water to fight the blaze. Realizing that the fire ers, including Panorama resident, Phil Marshall. inferno. was out of control, Mr. Marshall performed a hand In a statement given to authorities, Mr. Marshall, “Once I had alerted each of the condos, I returned search of the bedrooms and found them empty. who owns the Earl Grey Lodge and restaurant with to the penthouse and kicked the door in, being He quickly fled the building, but not without sufhis wife Clare, noticed flames erupting from the aware that there may have been a flash back,” Mr. fering from prolonged smoke inhalation, which penthouse condo of the 1000 Peaks Lodge while Marshall stated in official testimonial. resulted in an evening of sickness and difficulty walking along Summit Drive and chatting with a The sprinklers on the top floor were working, but breathing. friend, Jason Smith, at around 1 a.m. Mr. Smith, who the area was filled with smoke. Although his actions were crucial in warning was carrying a fire department radio at the time, “I grabbed a towel from the kitchen and wet it to visitors of the blaze, Mr. Marshall remains modest immediately called in the blaze. The restauranteur put over my face before proceeding through the about his role in rescue efforts and would rather not grabbed a fire extinguisher from his business and lounge to the deck because the glass door to the be singled out. gained access to the 1,000 Peaks Lodge through the deck had broken and I was able to use the fire ex“A lot of people did a great job that night,” he added.
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