An East Trail home suffered extensive damage in an early-morning blaze on Tuesday.
Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire and Rescue (KBRFR) received the call at 4:33 a.m. from neighbours that a home at 1674 East St. was on fire.
Eleven firefighters from Co. 4 in Trail and five more firefighters from Co. 2 in Warfield responded to the blaze, which took a couple of hours to get under control.
“It was tough fire,” said Grant Tyson, operations captain for the KBRFR.
The intensity of the heat also brought down a power line, which furthered hampered firefighting efforts.
“The power line came down right on our hose and burnt through our hose,” explained Tyson.
He said they originally received received reports that there were people in the house and it was only later they learned the occupants were away.
Nevertheless, as firefighters tried to enter the house a propane tank blew up.
“The propane tank blew up as the guys were trying to knock the fire down at the entry because we were told there was somebody inside. We were trying to get in as fast as we could.”
No injuries were reported.
The downed power line also cut off power to approximately 2,000 customers, according to Michael Allison, a FortisBC spokesperson.
“The cause of the service disruption was due to a structure fire,” Allison said in an email reply.
The KBRFR media release said the fire “appears to be of suspicious nature.”
It is currently under investigation by the RCMP.