April has been busy for the Sechelt Fire Department.
On April 13, a neighbour walking by a home in a shíshálh Nation neighbourhood saw flames on a deck running up the side of a house. The neighbour called 911, then banged on the door to alert the occupants inside the building, fire chief Dwight Davison told Coast Reporter.
The fire department received the call around 10 p.m., and since the nighttime duty crew was returning from another call, they were able to quickly arrive on scene. The fire chief said it likely gave them a five to seven minute headstart. Twenty firefighters attended the call, and knocked down the fire, limiting the damage to the exterior of the house.
Firefighters determined the fire was caused by smoking materials that had been accidentally improperly disposed of.
April 18
Five days later, the department was called to attend another house fire at 10:57 a.m. on April 18, this time off of East Porpoise Bay’s Stockwell Road. There, an occupant of a house smelled smoke and had called 911. A small chimney fire was extending into the attic space of the house.
“We were able to get there and get a really quick knockdown before the fire had an opportunity to really spread through the house,” Davison said.
Four apparatus, 15 Sechelt firefighters and standby crews from Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek attended the scene. Davison said they put out the fire quickly before climbing on the roof to access hidden hot spots and make sure the fire was completely extinguished. The damage was limited to minor damage of some of the cedar shingle roofing and insulation in the void space, and not overly extensive, Davison said. The response took about an hour and a half, plus clean up back at the station.
The fire chief advises people with fireplaces or woodfire stoves to conduct regular proper cleaning and maintenance and to burn seasoned, dry firewood.
For both fires, Davison said the early recognition and prompt calls to 911 helped with a quick response.
