One man is in hospital and several are out of their homes following a townhouse fire in North Vancouver’s Carisbooke neighbourhood early Friday morning.
Multiple 911 calls came in to District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services around 1:15 a.m. when neighbours saw smoke and flames billowing from the blown-out upstairs window of a unit on the 3800 block of Princess Avenue.
“Then we got more 911 calls, stating that there were people trapped in the upstairs bedroom and one was in a wheelchair,” said assistant fire chief David Dales.
Crews arrived and attacked the fire aggressively but one of the home’s residents was in respiratory arrest, Dales said. They worked on the 66-year-old man for 10 minutes before handing him off to B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics who transported him to a Vancouver hospital.
As of Friday morning, he was in intensive care but stable condition. Dales said smoke inhalation was likely the cause. The man’s wife was taken to a local hospital to be treated for a less severe case of smoke inhalation. Their son got out without injury, Dales said.
Firefighters were able to knock down the blaze before it spread but the five other units in the block did receive smoke and water damage, and crews had to rip out ceilings and wells to ensure it was extinguished.
“With these townhouse complexes, they're very complicated fires because of all the adjoining walls and roof and ceilings so they had to be super aggressive to make sure that it didn't spread into the other units,” he said.
About 20 residents plus some pets had to be evacuated from the complex. According to the District of North Vancouver, six people from three units will be displaced for an extended period. They will be receiving some support from North Shore Emergency Management. Residents from the other units should be able to return within a few days.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Dales said they know it mainly burned in the bedroom.
Dales said investigators hadn’t yet determined whether the home had working smoke alarms but he emphasized everyone should have them and test to see that they are working.
“Any fire at night is more challenging because, usually, residents haven’t evacuated because they're asleep,” he said. “In situations like this, a working smoke detector puts you in a way better position than not having a working smoke detector.”
