Elderly woman escapes aggressive Kelowna house fire
An elderly woman was treated for minor injuries following an aggressive morning house fire in Kelowna, B.C., that spread to a neighbouring home.
Fire crews responded just before 9 a.m. PT Thursday to fire coming from a home on Argyll Road in the city's Rutland neighbourhood.
"The whole carport was in flames. I just saw flames," said neighbour Linda Neil, whose property suffered damage in the fire.
"I was trying to get back to sleep and then I heard all this noise and someone banging on the door to get out," she said.
The blaze caused severe damage to the first home then spread to Neil's carport and destroyed her brother's van before fire crews got it under control.
'Possible hoarding case'
Firefighters helped a 79-year-old woman — the sole occupant of the house that caught fire — leave the building to get treated for minor injuries.
"Crews knocked down the fire very quickly ... and no one else has been found in the building," said Scott Clark, platoon captain with the Kelowna Fire Department.
He says the fire was particularly aggressive because the home was packed with so many belongings and calls it "a possible hoarding case."
Elaine Baydak, the daughter of the homeowner, told CBC News her mother had moved belongings up from the basement to the main floor, and the front entrance of the home was crowded.
She insisted her mother does not hoard possessions.
The cause of the fire is undetermined.
With files from CBC's Brady Strachan.
