An accidental fire and explosion in Langley City on Saturday night sent two people to hospital, one with second-degree burns.
Langley City firefighters got the call at 10:34 p.m. to a downtown apartment building.
Neighbours heard a loud boom followed by screaming, said deputy Langley City fire chief Peter Methot.
An alarm alerted firefighters, who arrived to find that three people, including an infant, had been inside the third-floor apartment at the time.
“The male had burns to quite a bit of his upper body,” Methot said.
The woman had suffered some smoke inhalation. The infant was unscathed.
Both adults were taken to Vancouver General Hospital for treatment.
Sprinklers had come on and doused the fire rather quickly. Methot said it also appeared someone had used a fire extinguisher from the apartment’s hallway.
The small explosion had caused a major mess, with stuff strewn everywhere, but most of the damage was caused by the sprinklers, Methot said.
Firefighters on the scene managed to get the water turned off quickly once they determined fire was out, said Methot.
The crews then used new backpack-style water vacuums to help clear up some of the water in the first and second floor units below the fire-damaged suite.
On Monday, Langley RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Holly Largy said the fire was believed to be an accidental incident linked to drug use. On Tuesday, Largy clarified that while drug paraphernalia was found in the apartment, the cause of the fire was not considered criminal and could not be linked to drugs.
