Damage estimated at $1M
A $1-million blaze at a housing complex in Victoria that displaced dozens of tenants Friday may have been caused by a faulty electric bike charger, says an occupant of the suite where the fire started.
Patrick Paulin, who was staying at his girlfriend Wendy Penman’s house when the fire broke out on the first floor, said he thinks the battery for his electric bike, which he built himself, might have overheated.
“I think it was my bike that lit on fire. I think I left the charger on too long,” Paulin said.
“I don’t want it to be my fault, but I had the battery plugged in.”
Steve Meikle, assistant chief fire prevention, said the cause of the fire at Evergreen Terrace has not been determined.
The fire broke out about 3 a.m. Friday in a three-bedroom suite at 829 Hillside Ave., at the intersection of Hillside and Blanshard Street, said Victoria Fire Battalion Chief Mark Robertson.
Witnesses report hearing a loud bang at the beginning of the fire.
Paulin and Penman had already left their townhouse by the time firefighters arrived and were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters believe two dogs in the unit might have perished.
Almost 12 hours after the fire broke out, firefighters had yet to enter the razed units because of concern about their structural integrity.
B.C. Housing confirmed there were 10 townhouses — nine occupied — each with three to seven bedrooms.
The 10 townhouses for families and seniors are part of a larger complex of 183 subsidized townhouses and apartments, said B.C. Housing.
Each suite had hard-wired smoke detectors on the basement, main and upper floors, said B.C. Housing. The detectors were inspected last month and found to be working.
There is no sprinkler system. B.C. Housing said sprinklers were not a building code requirement when the housing complex was built in the 1970s.
Flames quickly licked up the walls to the second storey and burst out through the roof. Firefighters worked through the night and contained the fire eight hours later.
It took longer to fully extinguish hot spots.
“We’re lucky we didn’t lose the whole block,” Robertson said.
He said the fire was hard to put out given the 1970s wood structure, and tar and gravel roof. “It’s been very stubborn and a hard fire to access.”
Multiple-unit dwellings pose added challenges to both contain the fire and ensure all occupants are safe, said Victoria Fire Battalion Chief Dave Bicknell, on the second shift of firefighters to tackle the blaze.
“One thing I can say that has really made a significant difference to fire safety is sprinkler systems,” Bicknell said.
“I’ve never been to a fire where there’s been sprinkler systems that operate correctly where they didn’t manage to suppress fires.”
He gave a rough estimate of $1 million to rebuild the three suites destroyed by fire and repair a fourth heavily damaged by smoke and water.
There was also flooding in some of the basements as the units share common drains, Bicknell said.
The amount of flame and smoke forced firefighters into a “defensive” approach, fighting the blaze from the outside with water hoses.
“There’s some structural stability issues,” Bicknell said.
A fire close to Christmas time always seems to magnify the tragedy but at the same time the season sometimes motivates others to rally on behalf of their neighbours and be more charitable, said Robertson. “It’s tragic. Everyone’s been displaced,” he said. “Any time, it doesn’t matter your status in life, you are displaced from your house, it’s very traumatizing. It’s your home and it’s gone and it’s very sad for us to see. You never get used to this.”