Vernon NewsAfter fleeing to lake, retired firefighter watched cabin go up in a matter of minutes'It was a matter of minutes'A retired firefighter could do little more than watch from the water Saturday as flames engulfed his family cabin and neighbouring properties on the shores of Okanagan Lake. Jeff Moore said he arrived at his cabin at around 2 p.m. and made the decision to stay behind after his family evacuated. His hope was his lifelong career in wildfire suppression would allow him to protect the cabin on Okanagan Indian Band reserve land, about 6.5 kilometres from Highway 97, south of Newport Beach. He entered the lake and watched as the fire devoured the property he'd been going to for 31 years. Moore spent his career in forestry and wildfire suppression and said wildfire firefighting made up the majority of his work.