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Residents rescued from under-construction home

The Penticton Fire Department used their ladder truck to rescue the homeowners from the roof.
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The Penticton Fire Department were called in to perform a ladder rescue after an elevator failure led to people being stranded on the third floor of their new home.

“There were two homeowners on the third floor, their elevator is out of service, and their stairs are being constructed right now,” said Captain Ray Simpson. “They weren’t able to exit the building, so we used a ladder to get them to the roof, through a skylight, and then extricated them from the building using our ladder truck.”

At around 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24, the fire department got a non-emergency call from a residence on Lakeside Road. Firefighters determined that their ladder truck would be necessary to get people down. With the home still under construction, a ladder was sent up to the third floor to get the trapped residents up onto the roof, where they could be safely taken back down to earth.

“This is not a usual thing,” said Simpson. “We heard their elevator had stopped working on them, so we came down to assess the situation. Because of the elevation change with the lake, it’s very hard to get ground ladders to them. We put a firefighter in through a window on the third floor, he assessed the situation, we gained access to the roof, and then removed them with the ladder. The perfect training scenario actually, but a real rescue at the same time. “

The quick and calm response from the Penticton Fire Department was greatly appreciated by the rescued residents.

“I’m really glad to be on solid ground,” said homeowner Viviana Odwin. “The officers were fantastic, I’m not the best with heights and they really calmed me down and convinced me I could do this. Good thing it wasn’t yesterday, it was really windy.”

Now that she’s safe, Odwin has a few thoughts on what they’ll be doing next.

“Well I think the best thing is to get the elevator fixed,” said Odwin. “And then make some sort of donation to the fire department, maybe for their Christmas party.”

With files from Jim Elliot.

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

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