Update:
Katrina Van Winkle, 9, was discharged from the B.C. Children’s Hospital, March 16.
She was flown to the hospital on March 14 after she was pulled from a house fire by View Royal firefighters. She was found unconscious and unresponsive in a hallway. Firefighters performed CPR and resuscitated her.
View Royal Fire Rescue volunteer crews were alerted at 2:49 a.m. March 14 of the fire on Paddock Place. The first truck from View Royal Fire Rescue arrived at the fire within five minutes. Colwood Fire Department also attended.
Update:
B.C. Children’s Hospital has confirmed nine-year-old Katrina Van Winkle is under their care and is now in fair condition, meaning her vital signs are stable and “within normal limits.”
The girl was pulled from a house on fire Thursday morning by View Royal firefighters. She was found unconscious and unresponsive in a hallway. Firefighters performed CPR and resuscitated the girl before she was flown to the Vancouver hospital.
B.C. Children’s Hospital could provide no further details. An update on the girl’s condition is expected sometime today.
Full story:
A fire in a View Royal home Thursday morning resulted in a nine-year-old girl being flown to Vancouver’s B.C. Children’s Hospital in serious condition.
View Royal Fire Rescue volunteer crews were alerted at 2:49 a.m. on Thursday, March 14 of a house fire on Paddock Place. The first truck from View Royal Fire Rescue arrived at the fire within five minutes. Colwood Fire Rescue also attended.
When crews arrived one woman was unconscious on the front doorstep, while another was still in the basement. The women are age 58 and 79 years old. The woman screamed from the basement, telling fire crews a child was missing.
One crew entered through the basement to remove the woman, while another went through the front door to look for the child.
Inside the house the second crew found the girl in the hallway, unconscious and unresponsive. Firefighters carried the girl out of the house and then performed CPR. The child started breathing again and was turned over to BC Ambulance.
The girl was flown to a Vancouver hospital in “serious medical distress,” said an RCMP press release.
“It was a pretty hectic 10 minutes there when crews first arrived,” said Paul Hurst, View Royal fire chief. “It was an outstanding effort. They went above and beyond.”
Hurst said the fire was bad enough that if crews had known for certain there was nobody inside they house, they never would have entered it. In total, 34 firefighters attended the blaze.
“They had no choice. They went in under some pretty extreme conditions.”
The woman who was in the basement is also in the hospital with undisclosed injuries. The other woman has travelled to Vancouver with the child.
Hurst said these are the kind of situations firefighters hope to never come across.
“They train their whole lives for this and hope it never happens. And the outcome, we’re hopeful for a good outcome. Houses can be replaced but it’s tough when anyone is in a house fire, let alone a child. It’s a pretty tough morning for the guys.”
Fire investigators and RCMP were at the house on Thursday, trying to determine the cause of the fire. Hurst said it originated in the basement and that nothing criminal is suspected. Investigatros determined the fire started as the result of combustible materials stored too close to a baseboard heater.
Damage to the home is estimated to be in the 150,000 to 200,000 range. The home did have a fire alarm installed, but it is unknown whether it was functioning.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” Hurst said. “I was pretty proud of the guys this morning for what they did.”
B.C. Children’s Hospital was not able to comment.
kwells@goldstreamgazette.com
