An Osprey Lake home and guest house were completely destroyed by fire Sunday.
According to Hayes Creek fire chief Rob Miller the cause of the blaze 鈥� which also consumed about an acre of brush and trees 鈥� is still unknown.
The fire started about 5 p.m., and Hayes Creek Fire Rescue and Erris Volunteer Fire Departments responded with two engines and three tenders.
According to an Erris incident report 鈥渄ue to the fire鈥檚 close proximity to large old growth trees, BC Forestry鈥檚 assistance was requested and that agency deployed four firefighters and a helicopter.鈥�
Cara Lewis of Princeton was fishing with her family when the fire broke out.
Her husband and daughter were on the lake when they saw the flames, and yelled to the shore for someone to call for help.
鈥淗e saw the shed go up and within seconds it seemed like the whole tree lit right up and all you could see was flames. They said they could feel the heat of it on the water. My daughter was crying. She was so scared.鈥�
The family quickly packed their gear, and then assisted a pair of campers with getting ready to leave.
鈥淲e loaded up all our stuff. It was a little windy out there and it wasn鈥檛 that far away鈥fter seeing that tree light up I was like 鈥榟oly smokes we are in trouble.鈥欌��
Lewis said the firefighters arrived very quickly. 鈥淚t felt like it was not even five or ten minutes and they were there that fast.鈥�
Miller said his crew worked all night, in shifts, working successfully to protect a neighboring home and stop the fire from spreading.
To report a typo, email:
publisher@similkameenspotlight.com.
andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com
Like us on and follow us on .
