Firefighters in Burton say a faulty electric cord is likely to blame for a fire that destroyed a trailer in the community last night.
Volunteer firefighters were called to a trailer just north of town at suppertime on December 27th, to find a fire raging through the mobile home.
“We got there 15 minutes after the call, but it was so intense, there was nothing we could do,” said fire chief Bryan Harrop.
Harrop says the fire seems to have started after the resident plugged an electric heater in the bathroom of the 14 x 72 -foot home. The woman reported hearing a noise, and upon checking found the bathroom already ablaze.
“It was a 45-year-old trailer, so there’s a lot of wood in the construction,” says Harrop. “The fire was immediately into the walls.”
Harrop says the six volunteers who responded put more than 8,000 gallons of water on the fire. It took them six hours to fight the blaze, and volunteers returned the next day to put out hot spots.
The mobile home resident suffered some mild smoke inhalation, was treated at the scene but declined to go to the hospital.
It’s the second major fire in the area in recent weeks. On Christmas Eve fire damaged a home in Nakusp. No one was injured in that blaze.