By Steve Hubrecht

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The new McDonald’s by the crossroads is still under construction, but it has already sparked valley-wide attention, after the building caught fire during the Thanksgiving long weekend.

At some point very early in the morning of Monday, Oct. 10 (or depending on your perspective, very late at night on Sunday, Oct. 9) a blaze began in the McDonald’s, while most local residents were tucked in bed, sleeping off their turkey dinners.

At 3:15 a.m. the Windermere fire department got a call about the fire, and called for mutual aid from the Invermere fire department. A total of 14 firefighters (seven from the Windermere department and seven from the Invermere department) and three firefighting vehicles were soon on scene.

“The fire was within the McDonald’s,”  Columbia Valley Rural Fire and Rescue Service assistant chief Joss Advocaat told the Pioneer. “There was quite a lot of smoke coming out from the building.”

Advocaat said that the crew did a great job acting quickly to save the building.  That swift action saved the building, he explained, “although it did sustain significant damage.” 

The firefighters entered the McDonald’s and extinguished the fire. After the flames were out, they ventilated the structure to get the smoke out. They eventually left the scene shortly after 5 a.m.

“Both departments worked really well together,”said Advocaat.

Nobody was injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation with assistance from the Office of the Fire Commissioner.