No one was injured when a large fire broke out at a historic Victoria-area home on Monday afternoon.
Roughly 24 members of the Victoria Fire Department arrived at a heritage house on McClure Street just before noon, along with two ladder trucks and emergency services. Crews were unable to immediately determine what started the blaze, but an old lamp and possibly faulty wiring could be to blame, according to those who lived in the home.
Flames were already licking at the front porch of the 100-year-old building when crews arrived, and the fire quickly moved towards the roof.
“Construction was balloon style with no fire stops so the fire would have spread right up to the roof quite rapidly,” said Victoria Fire Chief Paul Bruce.
“I believe there were four (people) inside upon arrival. Everyone got out alright and we were quick to make sure the neighbours were evacuated as well.”
And thanks to some quick thinking teens, including 13-year-old Finn Parker, everyone made it out safely.
“I heard my brother Sam say ‘fire!’ and the fire alarm went off,” Parker explained.
“He pulled the fire extinguisher out and tried to put (the fire) out. But it didn’t work because the couch was really on fire. So we decided to run out. He grabbed our little brother and ran out.”
Once safely outside, they knocked on the downstairs door to alert tenants and then moved back to the front of the house until fire crews arrived.
Some flames and smoke remain, house expected to be uninhabitable following massive blaze this afternoon in #yyj pic.twitter.com/Tn1vYFwrdz
— Victoria News (@VictoriaNews) March 19, 2018
Dozens of neighbours milled around the scene as crews took more than two hours to control the flames. First the roof collapsed and then the front porch gave way.
Bruce said there was a strong likelihood the home would be completely uninhabitable, but the homeowners did have insurance to cover lost items.
