Fire like ‘war zone’; Langford family of five homeless
Dog trapped inside home survives blaze
A family of five is homeless after an early morning fire destroyed a Langford home, but their dog somehow managed to survive despite being trapped inside.
All that remained Thursday of the Kestrel Ridge home was a blackened shell.
“The whole roof has come off the house and fallen into the upper storey,” said Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey.
The fire appears to have started in the area of the garage, then spread to a silver pickup truck in the driveway, blowing out the windows and melting the tires.
The fire started about 5 a.m. Neighbour Kazee Ziaee said his son woke up to the smell of smoke and the family came out to see flames shooting from the roof.
“It was like a war zone,” Ziaee said. “It was not a good scene.”
The residents of the house watched in shock as it burned. Aubrey said the family was rousted by a smoke alarm.
“Being how fast this fire grew, I firmly believe that the smoke alarm did its job in saving their lives and giving them time to evacuate,” he said.
Neighbours called 911 and said Langford Fire Rescue was on scene within 15 minutes.
Aubrey said the family dog was stuck insidefor some time, and the size of the blaze made it seem likely that the pet would not make it out.
“Initially, with the roof being involved, it was not safe to put firefighters in until we got a good knockdown on the fire,” he said.
“But once that happened, we were able to go into the lower level of the house and do a search, and firefighters found the dog in one of the bedrooms between a bed and a wall, cowering in the corner.”
Aubrey said the dog was suffering from smoke inhalation and was covered in soot and water. It was given oxygen using a special device for animals and sent to a veterinarian.
“From what I understand from the owner, he’s going to do just fine,” Aubrey said. “That was a little bright light on a dark day for them.”
Fire investigators spent the day shoveling through the charred remains of the home. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
West Shore RCMP investigators were also on scene but police have not said whether they consider the fire suspicious.
Aubrey said firefighters worked hard to keep the blaze contained.
“We certainly didn’t want this fire to spread to the nearby houses or to the surrounding woods.”
Some nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution.
Neighbours said the family has insurance and are staying with friends.