Fire crews were called to the Cariboo Memorial Complex Monday evening.
According to the Williams Lake fire department, a contractor working upstairs in a control room above the building’s arenas may not have turned off a torch used for brazing and soldering. The torch burned through its valve eventually igniting the escaping gas.
Staff and visitors to the building were alerted to the situation by the fire alarm and the building was evacuated.
“I guess the tank was shooting flames out about three feet high,” says fire chief Randy Isfeld.
By the time the department arrived the fire had been extinguished.