A fire last night at the Sandman Inn and Suites left 65 people without a place to sleep.

Around 8:20 p.m., Kamloops Fire Rescue (KFR) was called to the hotel (which also has apartments), says Platoon Capt. Troy Grant.

“Arriving a couple of blocks away, we could see flames on the roof of the building,” he tells KamloopsMatters. “The fire was in the attic and going through the roof in a couple of spots.”

KFR was able to quickly knock the fire down, using hoses from the outside and a ladder truck. They did have to remove a six-foot-by-12-foot section of the roof to get to it.

No injuries were reported, but the building remained empty overnight.

“65 residents were displaced,” Grant says. “Those have been taken care of by emergency support services.”

He adds that some will likely be able to return to their homes tonight, but others won’t be so lucky. The fourth floor, where the fire took place, has apartments, he adds. Along with some smoke damage and the removed section of the roof, he says there’s extensive water damage in some units, and likely more below.

“The cause of fire was in the attic itself; it appears electrical in nature,” Grant says. “The fire was kept small by the sprinkler system — the sprinklers were on for some time.”

Because of that, the roof collapsed in one unit and is sagging in others.

While the fire was knocked down relatively quickly, Grant says KFR stayed on the scene for a couple of hours to help guests and residents move out of the building.