A man was taken to hospital after a couch caught on fire in a downtown Ladysmith apartment building on Sunday afternoon just up the street from where hundreds were participating in a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest street hockey tournament.
Ladysmith RCMP, Fire Rescue and BC Ambulance responded to the scene at the corner of First Avenue and High Street at approximately 2 p.m.
RCMP Const. Allie Wanner, who was at the tournament and raced up the street with her partner when they saw smoke, said three people were inside the apartment when the couch suddenly caught fire.
“(The men) were separated within the apartment so one of them started yelling fire and the other two came out to the living room,” she said. “They dragged the couch across the landing and down the stairs and threw it over.”
One person was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation as well as injuries to his hands.
Lamont French had just finished reffing a game in the hockey tournament when he and a few others saw the fiery couch tossed onto the sidewalk.
“We got two or three guys and got the fire extinguisher from the Legion. The couch was on fire for maybe 30 seconds and then we beat it down,” he said.
“Two of us went up to make sure everybody was out of the building and helped a gentlemen and encouraged him to leave.”
The cause of the fire is considered to be accidental.
