Thomas Schoen of Williams Lake was sound asleep at a Bed and Breakfast in Waglisla (Bella Bella) in the early hours of Thursday, June 5 when he woke to a strange sound.
"I heard some really weird noise and crackling sounds," he recounted. His window was wide open, and when he looked out to see what he was hearing, he saw flames rising from the roof of a neighbouring house.
"I was one of the first ones to notice the fire last night, it was crazy," Schoen said.
He scrambled to move his truck out of the way; by the time he did, the first Wágḷísḷa fire department truck responded to the scene.
Soon a whole crowd gathered around, and within less than two hours Schoen said the house was almost completely gone.
Schoen said an ambulance arrived and seemed to leave without loading anyone, and there seemed to be an understanding in the crowd that no one had been hurt.
RCMP confirmed with Black Press Media there were no injuries.
Though only visiting, Schoen is not a stranger to Bella Bella, travelling there for work two to three times per year.
"The sad thing is this community, for years now, is trying to build houses," he said, adding that many folk are wanting to return to the community but cannot find a place to settle in.
"Every house that's lost is a house lost to the community in general because there's such a housing shortage."
