Skip to content

Fire at Kalesnikoff Lumber quickly extinguished

Thursday fire calls for team work between Kalesnikoff fire brigade and Tarrys, Crescent Valley and Ooteschenia volunteer fire departments.
95 in. kalesnikoff
A fire at Kalesnikoff Lumber was quickly extinguished Thursday night.

A fire at Kalesnikoff Lumber Thursday night was quickly brought under control thanks to Kalesnikoff's own fire brigade and the quick response of volunteer fire departments from Tarrys, Crescent Valley and Ooteschenia.

The call reporting a structure fire came in through 911 at abut 11 p.m. Nine fire fighters from Tarrys, seven from Ooteschenia and ten from Crescent Valley responded to the call, with the first crews arriving at the fire within ten minutes. The three departments have a mutual aid agreement that sees all of them respond any time there is a structure fire at Kalesnikoff Lumber.

When the fire fighters arrived on scene, the Kalesnikoff fire brigade had already initiated their protocols and was extinguishing the fire with their fire hoses. "That helped a lot to knock it down quite a bit before we arrived," said Tarrys fire chief Greg Patterson. "It was definitely beneficial to have their fire brigade there to do the initial attack."

"It didn't take long to get it under control, but there was a lot of hot spots that kept flaring up," added Patterson. Fire crews remained on scene for about three hours.

The fire started when an acetylene torch cutting steel ignited some grease and oil. "It is a good thing that Kalesnikoff Lumber keeps a clean mill, so there is not a lot of chips or sawdust around to become fuel," said Patterson.



Betsy Kline

About the Author: Betsy Kline

After spending several years as a freelance writer for the Castlegar News, Betsy joined the editorial staff as a reporter in March of 2015. In 2020, she moved into the editor's position.
Read more