There was another damaging house fire in the Alberni Valley today — the second in two days.
It happened Tuesday morning on Thompson Road in Beaver Creek, near Port Alberni, and all three people inside were able to escape, according to fire crews.
The call came in around 8:30 a.m. for a motorhome on fire, but by the time firefighters arrived, it had already spread to the neighbouring home.
“There were three people at home at the time,” said Mike Kobus, Chief of the Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department. “All are out of the building and are being looked after. One homeowner was inside from our understanding and somebody helped them out of the building.”
None of the people inside were injured, and all Alberni Valley fire departments were called out to assist.
But damage from the fire made entering the house too dangerous, Kobus tells CHEK News.
“With the fire being stubborn, we brought in a city ladder truck to access from the roof,” he said. “Because of all the instability of the house, we just brought in the ladder truck to access the top.”
The hot spots were fully extinguished by early Tuesday afternoon.
It’s the second home heavily damaged in the Alberni Valley in as many days, after a Monday blaze saw Port Alberni Fire respond to an Eighth Avenue home.
The two people inside were able to escape, Port Alberni Fire Chief Mike Owens says.
“There was somebody that was passing by and was able to alert them to the fire, but both of those individuals were able to self-extricate,” said Owens.
When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke and fire spewing from the top floor.
“We made an aggressive attack on it,” said Owens. “There were some exposure concerns on one side of the building, an attached garage to another house, but we were able to confine the fire to the building of origin.”
According to the fire chief, there was extensive damage to the inside of the home. He says having back-to-back severe home fires is rare.
“To have one yesterday just after 3 p.m. and then another one this morning just after 8:30 a.m. is unusual but not unheard of in this area,” added Owens.
The cause of both fires remains under investigation.
Kendall Hanson
