Police are investigating an early morning house fire that has claimed a life at Black Bear Mobile Home Park in Rossland.
Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue (KBRFR) crews from Trail and Rossland responded to the incident just after 2am, following a call from a neighbour reporting a fire engulfing a mobile home.
“We were on scene within about 10 minutes and were faced with some pretty significant fire. It was pretty much fully involved when our first crews arrived.” said Deputy Chief Glen Gallamore.
Emergency services were unable to locate the resident of the home as they made significant efforts to gain access to the property.
“Unfortunately, the fire was too involved at that time, and once crews actually got the fire knocked down and it was safe to enter, they did locate one deceased individual in the bedroom.” said Gallamore.
“This is a devastating incident for the community, and our thoughts are with the affected families. Our firefighters worked tirelessly under challenging conditions to control the blaze and prevent it from spreading to nearby homes.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the RCMP, the BC Coroners Service, in collaboration with the Fire Department, to determine the origin of the fire.
“We’re looking at a couple different areas of origin.” said Gallamore.
“Crews are on scene right now with the police in the corner and they’re conducting the preliminary investigation to try to narrow it down and actually determine what would actually cause the fire.”
The fire department urges residents to please be vigilant about fire safety, and the importance of functional smoke detectors.
“This tragic event serves as a sobering reminder of the severe risks fires pose, especially in mobile home settings.” said Gallamore.
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