An improperly extinguished cigarette was the cause of a Wednesday night fire in Nanaimo, city fire officials said.
The fire was reported at 11:45 p.m. on Aug. 12. According to Nanaimo Fire Rescue, working smoke alarms alerted tenants to a fire started in a bathroom of a home on Bowen Road.
The two people who were in the home at the time and escaped the fire. Fire officials said extinguishers and removal of the object on fire saved the home.
“Early warning from a smoke alarm resulted in quick action by the tenants to extinguish an incipient fire in a rental home,” Alan Millbank, fire prevention officer with Nanaimo Fire Rescue, said.
Millbank said the wastebasket in the bathroom was examined and that’s when it was discovered an improperly extinguished cigarette was the cause of the fire.
According to Millbank, improperly extinguished cigarettes are among the top three causes of fires.
The tenants were temporarily displaced from a basement suite as a result of the fire. The home is insured however, the renters in the suite do not have any type of insurance.
CHEK News
