A fire in a downstairs garage at a house on Fernwood Avenue on December 19 resulted in a woman being taken to qathet General Hospital.
Powell River Fire Rescue chief Terry Peters said the fire was called in at 4:03 am, close to Duncan Street.
“We are investigating the fire now,” said Peters. “It’s nothing suspicious. It’s an unfortunate event.”
In addition to the woman who was taken to hospital, Peters said her son was in the residence, which was fortunate for her.
“The biggest thing that I saw, and I’ve said this many times, is that neighbours looking after neighbours is important,” said Peters. “This is a classic example of a neighbour next door who took these people in and looked after them. It certainly makes our job a lot easier.”
Peters said once the fire department realized the female occupant was in need, she was transported to hospital.
As for the fire itself, Peters said the fire truck was dispatched and quickly showed up at the scene, and the fire was knocked down immediately. He said paid on-call firefighters arrived, as well as some more career staff, and the fire was out within minutes.
Peters said firefighters then engaged in mop-up and cleaning and removed a boat from the garage. He said the garage was not detached, but instead, was part of the house.
He said there is smoke within the house and the insurance company is dealing with the fire now. The fire started near the door of the garage, said Peters, and the fire department is looking for a cause.
“There’s significant damage in the garage space but the house is intact,” said Peters. “The fire was licking up the side of the building and broke a window. If we’d been minutes later, it would have been in the house.”
The condition of the occupant of the home who was taken to hospital is unknown at this time.
