Quest for fire protection for rural Okanagan neighbourhood continues

Politicians in northern Okanagan hope Lake Country, British Columbia will agree to provide fire service to dozens of voters whose neighborhoods currently have no fire protection.
After getting a no from the City of Vernon, North Okanagan Regional District Director Bob Fleming approached Lake Country about providing fire service to the unprotected area located between Vernon and Lake Country. .
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Vernon, British Columbia does not provide fire coverage in areas of deadly rural fires
“Knowing someone is coming is a big deal,” Fleming said. “Even if there is no event, it is important to have that conviction.”
Three adults were killed in a house fire in the area last month. Therefore, the promotion of fire protection has become more important.
“Until that event, there were virtually no fires affecting both people and buildings in these areas. [The fire] There were real deaths in that fire, so it was obviously the focus,” Fleming said.
“This initiative started before it happened, but it’s definitely a focus.”
Last week, the Vernon City Council voted against providing fire service, citing the city as being understaffed.
Fleming now hopes Lake Country will accept firefighting contracts for at least some of the unprotected areas. Because there are no other options in the area.
read more:
Vernon, British Columbia considers request to extend fire protection to deadly fire areas
If Lake Country is willing to provide fire protection to the area, residents will be given the opportunity to vote on whether they are willing to pay for the service.
Meanwhile, more than a month after a deadly house fire on Commonage Road, an investigation into the cause of the fire remains unsolved.
“Hopefully we can identify the cause,” Cst said. Vernon RCMP’s boyfriend is Chris Terleski.
“We don’t have an estimate on the timeline. Obviously, these types of investigations are fairly complicated due to the damage to the structure, so unfortunately it will take quite a while to sift through the evidence. [and] Analyze the evidence. ”
The cause of the fire is not considered criminal in nature. Police said the RCMP was involved in the investigation at the request of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency because of the location of the fire.

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