The Penticton Fire Department now considers the West Bench bush fire to be completely out at this point, though they鈥檙e holding off pulling all resources at this point.

Deputy fire chief Chris Forster said crews were largely relieved from the blaze at around 2 p.m., while a bare-bones crew continued to spray water on the area to keep it damp.

鈥淲e are going to maintain having crews there until at least 8 o鈥檆lock tomorrow morning, just as precautionary,鈥� Forster said.

鈥淏etween all the crews, we鈥檝e managed, fortunately, to save it before it got to any structures 鈥� it got really close, within about 20 feet of one of the structures, but we got a handle on it really quick.鈥�

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Just because it鈥檚 currently believed to be out at this point, firefighters say they鈥檙e keeping an eye to ensure nothing springs up.

鈥淲e did a guard right around, and then basically we just follow it right through, right from one end, again, to the other, to make sure that we get all the hot spots, etc.,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he only thing is you never know how far it burns down, into the ground. In our opinion, at this point, it鈥檚 out.鈥�

Just one home saw significant damage, with an ember landing on the cedar shake roofing of the home, while another had a minor blaze on its roof, according to firefighters.

The first house only saw damage to the roof, and firefighters had to hack through to ensure the fire didn鈥檛 spread within the house.

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Forster noted another homeowner at the end of the cul-de-sac, who also had wooden shingles, whose home may have been saved by the sprinklers and hoses he鈥檇 had running over his roof.

鈥淗e actually told us that he thought about a week, he鈥檇 had those up for about a week. He just had in the back of his mind, thinking it鈥檚 been a few years, it鈥檚 been super, super hot,鈥� he said.

Though the homeowner didn鈥檛 have the sprinklers running at the time of the fire, a contractor doing stone work at the place was on hand at the time the fire sparked, and turned all the hoses and sprinklers on.

鈥淗e, all of a sudden, smelled a lot of smoke, went around the back, saw all the flames, and so, first thought was, 鈥榟ey, turn all those sprinklers on,鈥欌�� Forster said.

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dustin.godfrey@pentictonwesternnews.com
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