If three major fires in a little over two weeks is not enough, now some people are suggesting the Armstrong- Spallumcheen fire department didn't respond quick enough to a recent blaze. Three homes were destroyed and a fourth had substantial damage after a fire Friday at the Coyote Crossing Villas Mobile Home Park off Westside Road. Media reports have said firefighters didn't arrive until 25 minutes after the flames broke out. In a news release, Mayor Will Hansma says because the mobile park is located on Okanagan Indian Band land, their fire department was not dispatched. However, he says he immediately authorized his crews to respond outside their normal boundaries once they learned of the blaze. Hansma says they will always respond to help their neighbors despite liability concerns on land where there is no fire protection or mutual aid deals in place. Police say the cause of the fire doesn't appear suspicious but is still under investigation by the Okanagan Indian Band's volunteer fire department. The Armstrong Spall fire department also responded to a wildfire last Sunday in the Grandview Flats area and to the Tolko mill fire on July 4.
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