Record staff
A structure fire on Rodello Street in Comox levelled a home and some surrounding outbuildings, Tuesday evening.
Fire crews were called to the residence on Rodello Street just before 9 p.m.
According to Comox Fire Rescue Chief Gord Schreiner, his crew had been out in Comox Harbour when they saw flames candling in the trees.
“The house was fully involved, the trees were going, and there were two sheds on neighbouring properties that also burned down. It was a fairly large fire,” he said.
Area resident Alex Bews, one of the first on scene, said he could see embers flying everywhere.
Schreiner confirmed everyone escaped safely.
“There was somebody home at the time… no civilians got injured,” he said. “We did have one firefighter suffer some heat exhaustion. He’s been treated and is back in service now.”
Schreiner said it was not as bad as it could have been.
“The trees went up very quickly because it’s been so dry. This could have been a lot worse. We are lucky we got it out when we did.”
Mackai Sharp was helping a friend, who lives across the street from the fire, evacuate her home, in case the flames spread.
He said the smoke billowing throughout the neighbourhood was nearly overwhelming.
“As we arrived on the block, we had to cover our faces as the smoke was incredibly thick and grey,” he said. “Our friend was very distraught upon seeing the smoke so close to her house. We had to leave our vehicle to retrieve her animals, we couldn’t see any fire trucks even though they were right beside us.”
He said they were successful in retrieving all of her friend’s pets.
“When we entered her house, we could smell the smoke as it started to leak inside,” said Sharp. “We managed to grab two large dogs and a lizard inside the house and bring it inside of our car.
The cause of the blaze has not been determined.
