North Vancouver City Department crews say quick action by residents in a burning apartment may have saved the building on New Year’s Eve, but one of the building’s feline residents did not survive.
Residents in the three-storey walk-up on the 100 block of East 18th Street could hear a neighbour’s smoke alarm going off around 7:30 p.m., Dec. 31. At the time, a fire had begun to burn in the kitchen of a first-floor resident who wasn’t in their suite at the time, but the blaze hadn’t reached a high enough temperature to trigger the building’s fire alarm
When the neighbours smelled smoke coming from the unit, one pulled the fire alarm, triggering an evacuation of the building and a fast response from North Vancouver City Fire Department and District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members, who were there within minutes, said Deputy Chief Andrew Payne.
“When they opened up the door, the hallway was fully charged with smoke,” Payne said.
Firefighters quickly put out the blaze and ensured the building was safely evacuated.
Everyone on the second and third floor was able to return later that night but those one the first floor are still out of their homes due to the smoke and heat damage. They have been in touch with emergency social services, Payne said,
Among the evacuees were three cats from different apartments. Two of them were in medical distress, Payne said, and crews went to work on them.
“We actually drove the one cat to that to the vet, because the owner didn’t have a vehicle,” Payne said.
Crews will make an attempt to rescue animals once they are sure that everyone is safe and it’s always a proud moment when they save someone’s pets, Payne said.
Sadly though, Payne said he learned later in the week that one of the kitties had not survived.
But he said the neighbours’ quick actions gave them enough of a head start that the fire wasn’t able to spread, putting more lives and homes at risk.
“Things absolutely would have been worse if they had waited until the heat detector had gone off,” he said. “[It] would have significantly changed what we could have done… If you see or smell smoke, pull the fire alarm and get out of the building.”
The investigation into the cause of the fire is still under way but they have ruled out anything suspicious, Payne said.
