A fire that began mid-afternoon Sunday at a property adjacent to Green Mountain Road on the Penticton Indian Band Reserve appears to be quelled.
The fire, on the lower reserve and not far from P&E Lumber on the eastern side of the thoroughfare, ignited mid-afternoon and soon sent a massive column of thick, black smoke into the sky, towering over PIB land and the western half of the city.
When PentictonNow arrived on the scene at 4:20, Green Mountain Road was completely blocked by RCMP cruisers. At least two Penticton Fire Dept trucks and at least one PIB Fire Dept truck -- and plenty of personel from both agencies -- were working the blaze.
By the time PentictonNow left the scene approximately 20 minutes later, the smoke was noticeably less intense and several shades lighter, and the activity seemed more relaxed.
Watching it all unfold from a couple hundred meters away, the closest any civilian was allowed, was Adam Eneas of the PIB, who idenitfied himself as the landlord of all the property on the east side of Green Mountain Road in that area. He said he did not know what was burning, speculating that it was a "trailer."
When asked if he knew why the smoke was so black, Eneas said he had "no idea at all."
"I don't know what he stores in there," he said. "I understand just now that there was a man living on the property, but he's out."
We'll have more info on the fire as it becomes available.
