Off-duty police officer first to report fire in detached garage in Nanaimo

Off-duty police officer first to report fire in detached garage in Nanaimo
Kendall Hanson

An off-duty Nanaimo police officer, who happened to be driving by, was the first to report a garage on fire at a rural Nanaimo home.

A Nanaimo RCMP officer was passing by the residence on Dec. 27, located in the 2600-block of East Wellington Road in Nanaimo when he noticed that a fire had sparked in the home’s two-car garage, which is detached from the house.

Fire officials told CHEK News that an officer was the first to spot the fire and report it before the couple in the home realized their garage was on fire.

The property owner says his dog alerted him to the fire shortly before the officer who had reported the fire arrived at his home.

Acting Captain with Nanaimo Fire, Justin Barr, says that the garage was fully involved by the time crews arrived on scene.

Firefighters say no one was hurt in the incident.

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Crews battled the blaze and were able to contain it from spreading beyond the garage to the rest of the house.

Barr told CHEK News that crews were on site for multiple hours and stated that it was a difficult fire to fight due to the icy, snowy conditions. Barr emphasized that trucks have a slower response time in snowy weather conditions as well as a harder time getting to residences in rural areas of Nanaimo.

The property’s owner says several of the firefighters did not know where the closest fire hydrant was located which also slowed the response.

The garage sustained significant damage from the fire and is being described by authorities as “a write-off.”

At this time, the cause of the garage fire has yet to be determined by fire crews.

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