Skip to content

Students evacuated due to fire

Kiln sparks fire at Okanagan Landing Elementary Tuesday morning
11378902_web1_180410-VMS-fire
Vernon Fire Rescue Services firefighter Guido Reichlin sifts through smouldering material at Okanagan Landing Elementary Tuesday morning. A kiln in the gym was somehow turned on and materials near the kiln caught fire due to the heat of the machine. School staff evacuated students and staff from school. The gym filled with smoke and is being ventilated. There is no structural damage or injuries. (Roger Knox/Morning Star)

Some Vernon students got an early morning evacuation Tuesday due to a fire.

A kiln sparked a fire at Okanagan Landing Elementary, filling the gym with smoke.

No one was injured and there was no structural damage.

The kiln, in the gym, was somehow turned on and materials near the kiln caught fire due to the heat of the machine.

School staff evacuated students and staff from the school.

“They already had students and staff assembled to the west of the school when we got here,” said Fire Rescue Services Capt. Colin Clarke. “The staff handled things very well, absolutely.”

Vernon Fire Rescue Services was on scene to extinguish the blaze and ventilate the gym.

“When we have good visibility in there, we’ll take another look to check for any structural damage,” said Clarke. “At this point it was a small compartment fire with only teaching materials, paper and general combustibles involved.”


@vernonnews
newsroom@vernonmorningstar.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
Read more