A house fire in Little Fort has claimed the life of an elderly man Wednesday morning, Feb. 28.
Members of the Little Fort Fire Department and Blackpool Fire Rescue along with the RCMP responded to the fully involved structure fire at 8:11 a.m. on Webb Road just south of Little Fort.
Blackpool Fire Rescue chief, Mike Savage, and assistant chief, Deitrich Rempel, attended the scene ahead of the fire crews while en route to a meeting scheduled in Kamloops, and at that time the home was fully involved, noted the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) in a news release issued on behalf of the fire department.
“Fire crews arrived soon after and due to the fire’s intensity, crews were forced to take a defensive stance in fighting the fire. The fire was contained to a single structure, however, no rescue attempt was possible in the affected structure,” noted the TNRD.
An investigation determined the fire started in materials at the base of the stairway leading to the second storey of the home. The source of ignition could not be determined due to the heavy fire damage, added the TNRD.
The victim of the fire was a man in his 80s who was the lone occupant of the home. The BC Coroners Service is continuing to investigate and RCMP will be responsible for notifying next of kin.