Wailing sirens could be heard across Nanoose Bay Sunday evening as firefighters raced to a burning home on Dolphin Drive.
“My husband, he was actually working outside and the neighbour came around to him to tell him there was a fire and he ran to the scene,” said Elena Muradian, who lives five doors down from the fire.
Reza Sourate ran to the burning house to help, but it was already too hot to get too close.
“It was just a disaster,” said Sourate. “I would say in like five minutes, the whole house just got completely gone.”
Numerous 911 calls came in, including from a BC Ferry where people could see the smoke.
Parksville crews joined Nanoose Bay Volunteer firefighters to keep the flames from spreading.
“We were able to contain the fire to just that single house and at the same time save the houses on either side of that building as well,” said Parksville Fire Chief Leo Groenewegen.
He says one man escaped the burning home with minor injuries, and two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion at the scene.
Today, firefighters were back at the home where only rubble remains and damage to the walls of nearby homes can be seen.
The big concern was how dry it is and how quickly all the big trees in the heavily treed area could have gone up in a major fire.
“Yeah, if there had been any tiny bit of a wind, it could have gone really bad really shortly,” added Muradian.
“It escalated really quickly, especially with the conditions of the fire season we’re experiencing here,” said Groenewegen. “We were able to put our engines in the front and at the sides, Parksville took at side and again did a great job containing that fire.”
Officials say the cause of the blaze is still being investigated.
Dean Stoltz
