Electrical fire evacuates Priest Valley Arena

May 10, 2015 - 12:05 PM INFO-TEL Multimedia Howard Alexander
VERNON – It was a busy weekend for Vernon firefighters as they responded to three separate blazes, including one at the Priest Valley Arena this morning. The main electrical panel at the aging arena went up in flames, May 10, according to Fire Capt. Dan Walker. He says the custodian called in the fire and the arena was evacuated, adding the fire was confined to the panel and no one was hurt. The fire was caused by a failure of some kind in the panel and the City of Vernon’s electrician is helping with the investigation, he says. On Saturday, there were two fires, within 40 minutes of each other, which needed the attention of the Vernon firefighters. An abandoned couch in Girouard Park in the 4200-block of 20 Street in Easthill was set on fire. The call came in at about 4:05 p.m., May 9. Walker says crews had to run a line into the park to put out the blaze. The fire is considered suspicious and the RCMP have taken over the investigation. About 40 minutes after the call came in for the Girouard Park couch fire, firefighters responded to an oven fire on the other side of the city at 5888 Okanagan Landing Rd. Walker says food had fallen onto the element in the oven and started a small fire. He says it was mostly out when they and crews set up fans to vent the smoke out of the home.