Five people safely escaped a house fire in Campbell River this morning.
According to Thomas Doherty, chief of the Campbell River Fire Department, crews were called to a home on Murphy Street at around 8:55 a.m. for reports of a structure fire with one person inside.
He said that when crews arrived on scene, the house was “heavily involved” but that five occupants inside were able to make it out safely.
“When firefighters arrived, they were able to confirm that everybody made it out,” Doherty said.
“The home was heavily involved in fire on both levels of the two-story home,” he said. “We were able to initiate a defensive attack and knock the fire down. Then we transitioned to an interior attack to suppress the fire.
One person was transported to local hospital for “further observation” due to smoke inhalation, according to Doherty.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but Doherty believes it started on the lower level. He said the fire isn’t considered suspicious, at least not at this point.
“It’s too early to tell,” he said.
The home was a relatively newer home that at working smoke alarms, which Doherty credited with saving lives. He said newer homes tend to burn a lot quicker than older homes because of how they are built.
“[The fire] went up fast, really fast,” Doherty said. “These newer homes, they burn a lot quicker and faster now because of a lot of the synthetic materials that have in them.”
“All these new products that people are putting in their house, plastics and whatnot, it is just like putting gasoline in your house.”
Fires at older homes often take longer and it flashover tends to occur much later, explained Doherty, adding that in newer homes, flashover takes place within two to three minutes of a fire occurring.
“In the old days, the modern homes or legacy homes used to be up to 17 minutes before you would see flashover,” he said. “We see it now in like two to three minutes.”
Fortunately, in this case, the occupants were able to escape the home before it was too late. Doherty said the blaze is a good example of why people need working smoke alarms.
“People should test their smoke alarms, especially around this time of the year,” he said.
Nicholas Pescod
