Quick response from firefighters brought a grass fire in Garnett Valley under control before it had a chance to damage buildings.
George Pugh of the Summerland Fire Department said the fire, on Wildhorse Road, was reported around 3 p.m.
Three trucks and 23 Summerland firefighters responded. The province also provided a helicopter to assist with firefighting efforts.
Pugh said the light winds made it easier for firefighters to control the blaze.
The fire, which covered around 0.8 hectares, grew quickly and moved towards a home in the area.
“It was about 10 feet from my house,” said Shelly White.
This is not the first grass fire in the area.
White said last year, a grass fire came within half a kilometre of her home. This year’s fire was much closer and much faster moving, she said.
As the fire approached, White and her family left the house and were in the process of evacuating the 24 horses on the property.
“We had given up on the house,” she said. “We thought we had lost it.”
The fire melted White’s irrigation line, so as a result, she used a garden hose to try to contain the fire.
She said the quick work from firefighters kept the fire from reaching her house.
“Hats off to the Summerland Fire Department and Forestry,” she said. “They saved my home.”
The cause of the fire has not been determined.