Thursday, December 29, 2011

Firefighter killed during early-morning blaze at Enderby area work site

 A volunteer firefighter has been killed during an early-morning blaze at a work site in Enderby, B.C. At around 4 a.m. this morning, firefighters were called to Sperlich Log Construction — a log home building business on the north edge of the small community, situated about 30 kilometres north of Vernon.  The victim has been identified by the B.C. coroner service as 29-year-old Daniel Botkin. His family been notified of his death, coroner Mark Coleman told The Sun.  Botkin was killed when an explosion ripped through a burning shed near where the original fire erupted in a building that was under construction, according to RCMP.  A second firefighter was injured in the explosion, and was taken to hospital in Salmon Arm in stable condition, said Barbara Carver of the B.C. Ambulance Service. Up until the explosion, "everyone felt they had [the fire] pretty well under control," said Vernon RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk. He said police were on hand to deal with traffic in the area while firefighters fought the blaze, but "firefighters told [police] officers they could leave." Molendyk said it's too early to know what exploded or what caused the initial fire. (more)

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