Okanagan landmark goes up in flames, owner may not replace

Fire quickly destroyed a large sailboat on the border of Kelowna and Lake Country overnight on Thursday.

Located at Highway 97 North and Commonwealth Road, the landmark boat had sat on the corner of the intersection since 1983, advertising the Holiday Park Resort.

“It'll be one of these farmer stories, ‘Remember where the boat was? That's where you turn,'” Holiday Park Resort President Dan Sigal told Global News.

“It's gone. Brutal.”

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Without a nearby fire hydrant, both the Lake Country Fire Department and Kelowna Fire Department had to shuttle in water tenders to help douse the flames, according to Kelowna Fire Captain Shayne Kiehlbauch.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

Fire photos courtesy of Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor.

An excavator was brought in to help spread out the burning wood structure and extinguish the fire, according to Kiehlbauch.

In the daylight on Thursday morning, all that was left of the boat was charred debris, cinder blocks and metal supports.

“I thought it was a bad joke on the phone. Then the police said, ‘No, it's real,'” Sigal said.

Sigal's father, Saul, had set up the vessel to be the original sales centre for the resort located off Commonwealth Rd., on the shore of Duck Lake.

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The Orchard City II was a recovered 1903 tugboat that had sunk decades earlier on Okanagan Lake, with one previous owner having attempted to turn it into a restaurant.

“It was in decent shape, but each year you had to do some things; paint it up, freshen it up,” Sigal said.

Surprisingly, the vessel has never been the target of vandals, according to Sigal.

The cause of the fire, which was reported to 911 around 1:30 a.m., is under investigation.

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“I didn't realize the impact it has on people. It's nice to see it really appears to be a landmark for the community,” said Sigal.

“Replacing it is not going to happen right away.”

The structure sat on leased land and was uninsurable, according to Sigal.

The resort is still dealing with losses from a fire that destroyed a two-storey building on its property last September.

The building housed the Italian Kitchen restaurant and Country Store.

“We got hit real hard with our building in September and that made it almost impossible to have coverage on some things, extremities like that. It just didn't work,” Sigal said. “To replace a boat, that would be very difficult anyway.”

Sigal is just happy no one was injured by the fire.