The City of North Vancouver fire department is warning residents to keep open flames away from live Christmas trees after a townhouse fire last night.
Firefighters responded to a call at 915 Tobruck Ave around 6:20 p.m. Thursday after a Christmas tree caught on fire.
“Luckily the townhouse unit has a sprinkler system in the building,” said Dan Pistilli, fire chief at the City of North Vancouver fire department. “There was minimal fire damage because the sprinkler system put the fire out quite quickly but there was extensive water damage to that unit.”
The tree ignited when the homeowner lit a sparkler for their young child and got too close to the tree, said Pistilli.
Firefighters worked to shut off the sprinkler system and remove water from the unit. The two adjoining units also had minor water damage. Pistilli said the situation could have been much worse.
“If the unit did not have a sprinkler system it would have been a different result,” he said.
Pistilli is advising residents to keep candles or other open flames away from live Christmas trees.
“Animals have a tendency to knock trees over as well so just keep any open flame — candles, anything like that—clear away from any of the live Christmas trees,” he said.
