Skip to content

Naramata fire chief: try not to panic when calling emergency services

Two calls for service end up being one, as mix up in locations
17810302_web1_180817-PWN-naramatafire
Photo by Naramata Fire Rescue

Naramata volunteer firefighters were scrambling on Monday night as calls of a grassfire and marine rescue came in at the same time.

Fire chief Tony Trovao said they quickly realized that the calls, despite being described as being on the opposite ends of Naramata from one another, were about the same thing.

“The fire was more us trying to figure out where the issue was,” said Trovao, of the two calls for service that came in at 9 p.m. “When people see grassfires at this time of year it can be easy to become panic stricken, but what we really need you to do is to slow down and try and find out some common points of reference to ensure we can get there in a timely manner.”

Trovao said the incident was actually someone who was having a camp fire and doused it with gasoline. He said the flames jumped high very and so someone pulled the log off and placed it on the lawn. That caused the lawn to start on fire.

“So we had a call for a grassfire and then also a call for a boat or raft that was in trouble. This really is a good lesson on how to describe where the issue is taking place. Make sure you have an address to give us, or find some common points and north, south, east and west directions. In this case the marina was close by but if you tell us what direction you are looking in, even say towards Kelowna, it helps,” said Trovao.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

<>

@PentictonNews
newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.