Elderly man dies in house fire in Little Fort

A man in his 80s died in a house fire this morning in a small community along Highway 5 north of Barriere. Fire crews from Little Fort Fire Department and Blackpool Fire Rescue were called to the structure fire at around 8:11 a.m. today, Feb. 28, on Webb Road just south of Little Fort, according to a Thompson-Nicola Regional District media release. Blackpool fire chief Mike Savage and assistant chief Deitrich Rempel arrived at the scene ahead of fire crews. Both were on their way to a meeting in Kamloops. At that time the home was fully involved. The fire was so intense that crews were forced to take a defensive stance in fighting it. It was eventually contained to a single structure. However, a rescue attempt was not possible. An investigation showed the fire had started at the base of stairway that led to the second storey of the home. However, because of the heavy damage, it is not clear what ignited it. The regional district cannot offer further comment on the victim's identity. BC Coroners Service continues to investigate the incident and RCMP will be responsible for notifying next of kin. To contact a reporter for this story, email Georgina Whitehouse mailto:gwhitehouse@infonews.ca  or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .