A house on Whitesails Drive was damaged beyond repair during a fire the afternoon of June 2.
Bowen Island Fire Rescue received the call about the house fire at 3:38 pm. All but one of the department’s fire trucks responded to the fire, and though they were on-scene before 4 pm Deputy Fire Chief Ian Thompson says there was no chance of saving the home.
“The flames had already gone through the roof, the house was fully involved,” says Thompson of the situation upon arrival. “It was a defensive fire right away.”
Firefighters began battling the flames on the sides of the house first to prevent the fire from travelling to neighbouring properties. A tree in a neighbour’s yard which stretched onto the property had caught fire, but was put out before spreading too far. After securing the perimeters firefighters shifted their attention to fully extinguishing the house.
“It was a pretty stubborn fire, an old house with lath and plaster,” says Thompson. It wasn’t until around 8:30 pm that the flames were finally put out. Hot spots continued to flare up throughout the night however, including one within an hour of the initial fire being extinguished. Fire crews checked on the scene multiple times overnight and into the next day to deal with these after-flares.
“There was a lot of hard work by the members. They did a great job of containing it and getting it out,” says the deputy fire chief of the multi-day effort.
Thompson says the hot spots were due to the roof caving in, which made entering the house unsafe. This meant firefighters couldn’t properly tend to the debris, which allowed hot spots to flare up in various areas. “It’s basically smouldering and burning underneath, and when it does finally get some wind it just ignites.”
Further proof of this was discovered when material from the Whitesails fire was found during a small bush fire in nearby Sealeigh Park over the weekend. “This one was pretty intense, so there were ambers flying all over the place,” says Thompson of the original fire’s aftermath. Firefighters also managed to put out the subsequent blaze.
None of the residents were home when the fire started, and no people were hurt. Of course the incident has left a family without their home, leading to the Bowen community quickly stepping up with a strong show of support to make sure they were taken care of, including temporary accommodation.
A GoFundMe page created for the family has already raised nearly $30,000 as of early Tuesday evening. A Meal Train page has also been set up. Two community events are scheduled for this month as well, starting with a barbecue at Doc Morgan’s on Thursday, June 8 from 4 to 8 pm. The Bowen Island Legion is also holding a benefit event on Saturday, June 24, with games, prizes, and an auction. All proceeds from both events will go to the family.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Thompson says a fire inspector will investigate the property soon to try and determine the origin. Following that, the parts of the house which remain standing will need to be taken down.
