Accidental Fire Destroys Kelowna's Gospel Mission Van

The damage at Kelowna's Gospel Mission from Sunday's fire. (Photo Credit: Kelowna's Gospel Mission)

More information has come to light about the campfire that set fire to a vehicle and a building early Sunday morning in downtown Kelowna.

Early reports indicated that firefighters had responded to a car fire near Level Night Club, which spread to a nearby building. It has now been confirmed that Kelowna’s Gospel Mission (KGM) took the brunt of the flames.

The shelter’s Executive Director, Randy Benson, said that there were two people who weren’t accessing the shelter that night and instead camped out behind the building. “For safety purposes and liability, we don’t let people camp out on our property,” said Benson. “Sometimes they set up there at night, so we ask them to move on.” The individuals did leave on bikes when asked, but a short time later, they came back to area.

The roof of the building received some significant damage. (Photo Credit: Kelowna's Gospel Mission)

The individuals were in the back corner of the mission’s leased lot by the old pizza building and book store, where the KGM van is parked. Benson says they threw a tarp over the van to set up an encampment, but the tarp soon caught fire from a candle, setting their belongings in carts on fire as well as the KGM van. Once the fire was sparked, they came running to the shelter and told staff, who called in the emergency.

The fire burned the front of the KGM van and went up the walls of the building. Thanks to the quick response of firefighters, the fire was quickly knocked down and contained to the van and the outside of the building. Benson says that this building is used for storage, so the damage will not affect the mission’s downtown services.

“I am grateful no one was hurt last night, this could have been much worse,” said Benson. “Losing our Outreach Team’s van will be a huge loss. Ironically, the very van that was burned is the same van that goes out to provide services to those homeless who won’t use our shelter.”

(Photo Credit: Kelowna's Gospel Mission)

The damage to the storage building and its roof means that the mission needs a different place to store those items. KGM has actually received the owners’ permission to demolish the building for a long-term plan to create an outdoor courtyard in the area for clients to wait for services in. “It is our hope to have enough funding to build the courtyard in the spring and now we are not sure if the fire will delay those plans,” said Benson.

Kelowna’s Gospel Mission is grateful for the quick response from the fire department and RCMP. “Their work certainly saved us from further damage or any threat to many men and women who were in the shelter at the time.”