Parts of the city smelled of smoke this morning and at one point an ominous black plume could be seen while driving down 2nd Ave. towards Dogwood.
The source was a devastating house fire on the corner of Nikola Road and Forest Grove Drive in Quinsam Heights.
“On arrival crews found a two-storey home well involved with fire on the rear side of the home on both floors,” said Chris Vrabel, deputy fire chief. “Our approach was defensive due to the amount of fire and the structure was compromised, preventing us from entering the structure.”
When the Mirror arrived on the scene the flames had been extinguished but Vrabel said the Campbell River fire department was still at the location soaking the ruined house and monitoring the hot spots until at least 1:30 that afternoon.
Vrabel said there were as many as 25 firefighters on location between the time the call was received, just before 8 a.m. until around 10:30 a.m.
There was no-one in the house at the time of the fire and no injuries reported. Vrabel said they do not yet know the cause.
“Because of the damage to the structure we need engineers and everything before we can even get in and have a look, so it’s not going to be anytime soon,” he said.
Photos by Mirror Reporters Kristen Douglas and Jocelyn Doll. Video by Jocelyn Doll.
