A quick response from City of Powell River firefighters saved a Westview house and its residents from a fire on the night of Monday, August 21.
The fire broke out just before 8:30 pm at a three-storey, wood-frame house on the corner of Burnaby Street and Michigan Avenue and sent a plume of black smoke into the air that could be seen for kilometres.
Powell River Fire Rescue deputy chief Rocky Swanson said the fire escalated quickly, but the home’s three residents and all of their pets, two cats and an iguana, made it out of the house without injury.
Swanson said he credits the upstairs resident for saving the life of the woman living in the house’s basement suite by waking her up.
“The fact that the lady who lives downstairs got out alive is incredible,” said Swanson. “It was due to the lady who lives upstairs, there’s no doubt.”
Swanson added that the woman living downstairs had been sleeping when the fire started under the home’s backyard deck. It moved quickly to consume the deck and began melting the house’s vinyl siding.
City director of planning Thomas Knight said the city’s investigation into the fire determined that the suite was illegal and that it did not have adequate fire alarms.
He said it is a public misconception that the city requires homeowners to register suites and have them inspected because of a potential increase in taxation revenue.
"The reason why we inspect is to ensure that suites are safe," said Knight.The fact that the home is located only a block away from the Courtenay Street firehall contributed to the quick knockdown, said Swanson.
The two-person initial-duty crew at the fire station arrived minutes after the call and brought the fire under control, he added.
Once more firefighters arrived, crews were able to enter the home to put any fire out from the inside.
Fire investigators spent Tuesday morning sifting through the scene looking for the fire’s cause.
