Firefighters were called out to the Washington Inn Apartments Sunday, April 17, to tend to a balcony fire.
Brian Haward, who lives on the third floor of the Washington Inn Apartments, was the first to spot the fire on a second-floor balcony.
“I smelled smoke but at first I thought it might be the construction workers out front, the roofers,” he said. “But (the smell) went away, then I started smelling plastic, so I went outside… I looked out back and I saw the fire was two feet high, against the wall, burning against the Hardie board, so that’s when I yelled ‘fire, fire, fire.’ Somebody from the third floor then pulled the alarm.”
Unconfirmed reports say the fire was started by an improperly discarded cigarette.
The Record has reached out to the Courtenay Fire Department for comment.
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