A firefighter’s heroic effort very likely saved a man’s life during a destructive blaze in Sorrento over the weekend.
The major incident was reported around 1:35 am Saturday and crews from several departments responded to the fully-involved residential fire in the 2200 block of Peterson Road.
Upon arrival, the first responding crew was alerted by a resident that there was one man still trapped inside the burning structure.
“Fire personnel immediately sized up the situation and determined entry to the building was possible,” explained a media release from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD).
After entering the burning building, a CSRD firefighter located the man who had collapsed on the floor after being overcome by smoke.
The firefighter dragged the man out to safety where he was assessed by paramedics and taken to hospital. According to the CSRD, he’s expected to make a full recovery.
Once the man was rescued, firefighters worked for hours to extinguish the fully-engulfed home and finally brought the blaze under control around 4 am.
They stayed at the scene until 8:30 am to ensure the fire was completely out.
Unfortunately, the home, as well as a shop, vehicle and RV, were completely destroyed by the flames.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time, but the CSRD says it has been deemed non-suspicious in nature.
