A man has died in a house fire at Shoreacres while another suffered burns in a separate incident nearby.
The Tarrys and Crescent Valley departments responded to the blaze on McHardy Road around 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Tarrys fire chief Greg Patterson said they knocked the fire down quickly, containing it to the living room, but it was too late for the lone occupant.
“It’s very unfortunate a life was lost,” Patterson said.
He said while the cause is still under investigation, it’s believed to have been started accidentally by a propane heater.
Despite the fatality, damage to the home was not extensive.
Firefighters were on the scene for a couple of hours and then a team remained on watch for a couple more hours to ensure the fire was out.
It was the second major emergency callout in the area within a few hours.
At about 3 p.m., firefighters from Tarrys, Crescent Valley, and Ootischenia responded to a truck and RV fire in the 2100 block of Highway 3A.
Patterson said the vehicles, which were not attached, were parked underneath the powerline right-of-way. They arrived to find them fully engulfed with the fire spreading to the grass and brush. However, crews got the blaze under control quickly.
Patterson was told a friend driving by spotted the fire. She went into the trailer to get the occupant out, but there was an explosion of some sort, likely a propane tank, and his face was burnt coming out. He was taken to hospital in Trail and released later that evening.
One firefighter was also given oxygen after inhaling smoke, but should be fine.
Patterson said they suspect the fire started when a generator in the back of the truck that was powering the trailer overheated. Both vehicles are a complete loss.
The fire also damaged Shaw and Rogers telecommunications lines, knocking out internet services to about 1,500 homes until early this morning.
