91Ƶ

Skip to content

Peachland grass fire possibly caused by 91Ƶflame up in the sky91Ƶ

Several theories about how grass fire started, including sky lantern or meteorite
24555617_web1_KelownaFireDept_PGM_3818
(Phil Mclachlan/Capital News FILE)

A grass fire that started near a Peachland home may have been caused by a fiery object that fell from the sky.

On Tuesday evening (March 16), emergency responders rushed to the fire located on the hillside between Ponderosa Drive and Highway 97.

Peachland Fire Chief Dennis Craig confirmed that crews had difficulty finding the fire as it was located on very steep terrain behind some homes. No winds and cool temperatures assisted the crews in their efforts. It reached a size of about 15 feet by 20 feet by the time crews knocked it down.

The cause of the fire, which damaged the deck of a home, is unknown. However, there are several theories.

A resident on scene shared a video with fire crews, showing a fiery object falling from the sky.

91ƵThere was an object, some sort of a flame up in the sky that does appear to have dropped on the ground in that area,91Ƶ said Craig.

The fire department believes the supposed object may have been a sky lantern. They are convinced it was not fireworks or a marine flare, as those look different from what the resident91Ƶs video showed.

However, any evidence of the supposed object is now gone, he explained, due to the amount of water crews used to put out the blaze.

91ƵThere was definitely something that floated down from a fairly high elevation, into that area, or drifted into that area,91Ƶ said Craig.

91ƵI91Ƶm not a scientist or a geologist, so I91Ƶm not going to argue the meteorite theory, but the last time I checked, rocks don91Ƶt typically support combustion. And for it to have that much heat, it would have to come in at a fairly fast speed, and in my opinion, would create a fairly big impact.91Ƶ

Craig said there is no impact, and they received no reports of a loud bang in that area at that time.

91ƵWe91Ƶre definitely leaning towards a sky lantern, but officially the cause will go down as undetermined, just because there is no evidence of what we can actually say caused the fire.91Ƶ

The fire has been deemed not suspicious; crews do not believe it was intentional.

READ MORE: Family reports UFO sighting near Shuswap Lake

READ MORE: VIDEO: Okanagan couple claim to see UFO near Naramata

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: phil.mclachlan@kelownacapnews.com


 


Like us on and follow us on .



Phil McLachlan

About the Author: Phil McLachlan

Phil McLachlan is the editor at the Penticton Western News. He served as the reporter, and eventually editor of The Free Press newspaper in Fernie.
Read more



(or

91Ƶ

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }