Four people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a townhouse in Nanaimo's Harewood neighbourhood this afternoon.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue, B.C. Ambulance Service and Nanaimo RCMP were called to a townhouse complex at 490 Gardasan Way in Harewood, shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, when it was reported a fire had started in a second-storey bedroom.
“Upon arrival the initial command saw flame and smoke showing from the second floor…" said Troy Libbus, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations. "He established command and they had an initial attack go in and knock down the fire."
All residents had evacuated from the home when firefighters arrived, but three had suffered smoke inhalation and a fourth person had sustained an injury.
“We do have three people with smoke inhalation that have been transferred to hospital and we have a neighbour that’s been transferred to hospital too,” Libbus said. “I have no information about the neighbour, but my guess is [they] were assisting somehow.”
The assistant chief did not know the extent of the damage to the unit, but said there was fire damage to the bedroom and heavy smoke damage.
Residents of the adjoining unit, he said, would likely be allowed back into their unit once firefighters had inspected the premises to check for damage and dangerous gases. He said at least three people would be displace from the units until further notice.
“The important point here is once they discovered the fire, everyone evacuated and called 911,” Libbus said.
One of Nanaimo Fire Rescue’s fire and loss prevention officers had arrived on scene to start looking into the cause of the fire.
