Image Credit: Nathan Ritchie

By Doug Collins

Sandman Suites fire

Sixty-five people displaced after fire at Sandman Suites

Mar 23, 2020 | 4:37 AM

KAMLOOPS — A fire caused fairly extensive damage last night at the Sandman Suites in the 500 block Columbia Street.

Platoon Captain Troy Grant says crews were called out to the building at 8:20 PM. When crews arrived, flames were showing through the roof and attic of the building. He says crews, which included a ladder truck, attacked the fire from the roof and attic area and were able to knock it down fairly quickly.

The tenants were all evacuated safely from the structure, a four-story mix of apartments and nightly rentals. Grant says the ceiling of one suite collapsed from the weight of the water, and three suites sustained water damage. There was other smoke and water damage as well. Captain Grant says there were sprinklers in the attic, which definitely helped in getting to the blaze quickly.

A total of 65 people were displaced because of the fire. Emergency services were called and set up a warming centre in the Sandman Centre. It’s not known when, or if, they will be allowed back. Investigators will be on scene this morning to try and find a cause.

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Grant says normally, they would have received lots of calls from passersby who would have seen the fire. But because the streets are very quiet right now with people staying home, they had only one call. He said if that one solitary person hadn’t been walking home at that time, and the fire had been allowed to get a better hold, it could well have been a lot worse.