North Van firefighters save home from Deep Cove garage blaze

They lost a collector’s car but saved the house.

District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members doused a garage fire in Deep Cove Thursday afternoon.

The first 911 calls started coming in at 2:30 p.m. from the 4000 block of Russell Court.

“We got multiple reports of multiple explosions coming from the garage,” said assistant fire chief David Dales.

At the centre of the fire was a car parked halfway onto the driveway.

“It was fully engulfed. There were flames shooting about 10 feet out of the garage at the time our first truck arrived,” Dales said.

Luckily, the family in the home realized what was happening and evacuated with their cat. They suffered only minor smoke inhalation and neighbours were ready to assist them with water, blankets and a place to shelter the kitty.

Because crews knew everyone was out of the house, they were able to focus on dousing the flames, which took about 10 minutes to put out. A second unit arrived to support them, along with an off-duty firefighter who happened to be in the neighbourhood.

“He came in flip flops and a T-shirt and shorts, and assisted in (connecting) a hydrant,” Dales said.

Following the investigation, assistant chief Nathan Walker said the fire began inside the engine compartment of the mid-1980s convertible Toyota Celica, which went up in flames after the owner started it up for the first time in a while.

“There was nothing left but the metal frame so it’s pretty tough to say what caused that,” he said.

Walker estimated it would take several months for the garage to be rebuilt and smoke damage to the home to be remediated.

“The good news was everyone was out safe,” he said.

The home did have working smoke alarms, which Walker said he was pleased to see.

“Make sure you test those once a month and replace the batteries once a year,” he said.