CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. – No injuries were reported in a Willow Point area house fire on Sunday.
Crews responded at around 12:30 p.m. to the 2200 block of Joanne Drive.
Firefighters worked on the flames outside of the home, while protecting neighbouring structures.
The fire did not spread to other buildings, but caused significant damage to the home.
Campbell River Fire Chief Thomas Doherty said once firefighters arrived, they came across heavy smoke coming from the two-storey house.
Doherty said crews were quick to knock down the fire and prevent it from spreading to a neighbouring home.
“The initial knockdown didn’t take too long,” Doherty said. “I’d say within the first 30 minutes (upon arrival) we had the fire knocked down and contained. But we remained on scene for a few hours just to look for any hotspots that my flare up.”
There were two residents inside the home at the time of the fire.
“They were alerted to the fire and were able to escape uninjured,” Doherty said. “They went across the street to a neighbour’s house where 9-1-1 was called.”
Members of both Campbell River’s fire halls – the downtown and Willow Point stations – were dispatched to the scene.
All told, 13 firefighters battled the blaze, with an additional five members on standby.
A challenge for crews was the high volume of traffic in the area.
“The fire itself was highly visible throughout the community,” Doherty said. “Our dispatch centre was receiving calls from Quadra Island on it, so there were a lot of curious residents looking and driving to the area. So it was very congested, traffic-wise.”
The cause remains unknown.
“We’ve got our investigators in the process of investigating the cause and origin,” Doherty said, adding that it will take a “thorough assessment to see whether or not it’s salvageable.”
