Multiple fire crews responded to a residential house fire on Esquimalt First Nation territory.
View Royal Fire was called to the 1120 Kosapsom Cres. around 12 p.m., with the Esquimalt and Colwood Fire departments providing assistance.
Together the crews knocked down a “burner” of a blaze that began in a bedroom on the second floor, said View Royal fire chief Paul Hurst.
Flames burst out the windows and even licked the roof, going strong for a good 15 minutes when crews hit them with water, said Shawn Brown-Bryce, who’d been living in the home for six months.
Brown-Bryce’s uncle was the only injured party, already suffers from asthma and was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, he said.
Crews were on scene less than five minutes after the 911 call, Hurst said.
Major fire response to home on Songhees. Details to come. pic.twitter.com/pvUrWOILzA
— Saanich News (@saanichnews) January 21, 2019
“The smoke detector went off, I ran upstairs, next thing you know I see black smoke coming out of my room,” Brown-Bryce said. “The whole bed was on fire, no idea how it happened, the [television] was on fire too, I’m thinking it was electrical.
“It was scary, I’m all shook up now.”
Five occupants of the house have now been displaced but are under assitance of the emergency social services program for at least the next 72 hours.
