Thursday, February 21, 2008

Weekend fire causes damage to home on Crestview


A man and his dogs fortunately were able to escape unharmed as a fire engulfed a residence on Crestview Drive on Saturday evening,

At one point 11 firefighters responded to the blaze which broke out in the basement of the home and quickly spread to the rest of the house, which left the smell of smoke wafting over the neighbourhood into the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Daily News had details on the Saturday evening fire in Tuesday’s paper.

Man, dogs make it out as fire guts Crestview home
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Pages one and two

A fire that began in the basement of a Crestview home on Saturday night quickly spread upwards, leaving the Prince Rupert home in a shambles by the time firefighters got the blaze under control.

The Prince Rupert Fire Department as well as RCMP and BC Ambulance were called to the fire at 129 Crestview Drive at 11:05 p. m. Saturday, where initial responders discovered a fire in the basement of the home. The male home occupant and his two dogs were able to escape the home unharmed before the fire engulfed most of the structure.

“After we arrived, the fire quickly spread out the back door and up the outer wall to the soffit,” said Prince Rupert Deputy Fire Chief Dave McKenzie.

“Once it breached that soffit, it got into the roof. There’s no stopping once it hits the roof, the whole roof just goes up (in flames).”

A total of 11 firefighters responded to extinguish the fire, and members stayed on scene until the investigation wrapped up around 1 p.m. Sunday.

“We do fire-watch and scene control to make sure there are no rekindles,” said McKenzie.

“You do get hot spots that can pop up, so we monitor the scene afterwards.”

Two firefighters did sustain minor injuries during the course of bringing the fire under control. They were taken to Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, where they were treated and released early Sunday morning.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but authorities said it does not appear to be suspicious at this time. While the main floor of the home did not receive any structural damage, there was severe damage to the backside of the home and to the roof, as well as damage to one of the neighbouring houses.

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