UPDATE: Apology for incorrect information re: housefire
By Kyra Hoggan
Ed Note: In the interest of clarification and accuracy, The Source reported yesterday that a housefire on Emerald Crescent Monday evening was called in at roughly 9 p.m. This is totally inaccurate, as the call came in at 5:47 p.m.
There is no doubt in my mind that this mistake was entirely my own, and should not be attributed to Deputy Fire Chief Sam Lattanzio – I apologize both to you and Sam for my error.
Further, in an effort to protect the privacy of homeowners, I reported only the subdivision, which I called Emerald Greens, when in fact the name is Emerald Green.
Next, the fire dept. had an IDEA at the time of the interview of what the cause of the fire was, but weren’t comfortable, at that juncture, releasing it as fact. The standard practice is to say cause is ‘undetermined’, until cause can be definitively proven – so there was no error in that.
Finally, insurance adjustors may not yet have estimated damage, but Lattanzio estimated it at between $10,000 and $15,000 – the operative word being “estimate”. I hope that resolves any concerns, and I apologize for the two errors I made. ~ Kyra Hoggan, Editor
Original story:
A house fire Monday evening caused as much as $15,000 damage, according to Castlegar deputy fire chief Sam Lattanzio.
The call came in at roughly 9 p.m., indicating there was a fire in Emerald Green.
“It was only a small fire, the cause of which remains undetermined,” Lattanzio said, adding the homeowners had been out of the house, and returned to find smoke alarms blaring.
“We were able to get the items that had caught fire out of the house – there was no need to use water to extinguish it, and it was dealt with within, I’d say, 15 minutes,” he said. No one was injured.
He said he estimates the damage at between about $10,000 and $15,000, and said the situation underscores the importance of keeping your smoke detectors well maintained and possessed of fresh batteries.
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