By David F. Rooney
An industrial fire involving a gas of some kind ended without injury and no apparent structural damage at the second condo block being constructed at Revelstoke Mountain Resort this afternoon.
“We didn’t take any chances,” Fire Chief Rob Girard said after the incident, which occurred at about 1 p.m. today. “It was a worker-caused fire involving a gas, possibly acetylene but that is still under investigation.”
The Fire Department responded to the alarm with a full court press: an ambulance, two pumper trucks, a tanker and a snorkel truck. They were crewed by about 25 firefighters who quickly donned breathing equipment at the scene.
Fortunately for all concerned, the fire was swiftly extinguished by the fire crew and no one was injured.
“It was a bit of a shocker for us,” Girard said. “Fortunately, this is new construction.”
The building is still mostly a concrete shell with steel studs so there was little to burn. What’s more, the fire was on the second floor — not the fifth. Still it did pose something of a wake-up call for the Fire Department, underlining something its men and women have long known: their ladders aren’t tall enough to reach the top floor of the resort’s main condo buildings.
The fire and its aftermath were wrapped up by 1:30. All that remains now is an investigation into how the fire started and the inevitable paperwork.
