As many as 26 families were forced out of their homes after a two-alarm fire tore through a co-op housing complex in the Seymour area Thursday night.
District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue was called to the blaze at 3717 Hamber Place shortly before 8 p.m., said Jason Deroy, assistant fire chief.
Fire crews arrived at the scene to find one cluster of wood frame townhouses in the River Woods Co-op fully engulfed, and heavy smoke and flames visible.
Twenty District of North Vancouver firefighters and seven others from West Vancouver tackled the blaze, which spread rapidly through a shared attic space in the complex.
Denise Wait was sitting at the computer inside her townhouse, 200 feet away from where the first flames were spotted, when she heard someone banging at the door.
She emerged from her home to find her neighbours wandering around the pathway screaming, and quickly ran back inside to grab her son Jake, along with their passports and ID.
“We lost everything — just brutal,” Wait said Friday morning from a Burnaby hotel where her family spent the night. “I cried while breathing in the acrid smoke. We left with the clothes on our backs, Jake and I.”
A firewall at the centre of the building contained most of the flames to the east side.
“I’d say within the first couple of hours (the firefighters) got good control of it,” said Deroy.
While the fire didn’t cause any serious injuries, two people were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene by B.C. Ambulance Service.
Smoke from the blaze billowed through the Parkgate neighbourhood and forced a temporary closure of nearby Mount Seymour Road.
It’s too early to say what caused the blaze, said Deroy, but district fire investigators returned to the scene Friday morning along with North Vancouver RCMP to continue searching for clues.
Residents were seen comforting each other outside the charred complex Friday morning, while firefighters wearing protective masks emerged with a couple of chinchillas that survived the blaze. However, not all the pets have been accounted for.
“There was a request, somebody had a cat in one of the suites, and it was checked multiple times,” said Deroy, adding, firefighters came back empty-handed.
Residents of the affected 26 River Woods units, which houses single parents, seniors and low-income families, are now trying to get back on their feet again.
Under the provincial Emergency Social Services program, people forced to leave their home in an emergency are provided with 72 hours of food, clothing and shelter assistance.
“However, we expect some of these people will be out longer than 72 hours, so we are trying to plan for that contingency,” said Mike Andrews, emergency planning officer with the North Shore Emergency Management Office.
River Woods Co-op president Diane Bennett said Friday afternoon all residents affected by the fire have tenant’s insurance and will be provided with temporary accomadations until they can return home.
Bennett has been told a preliminary assessment from district fire officials indicates the building is fixable, but in the worst case scenario it may be eight to 10 months before residents can go back home.
In the aftermath of the fire there has been an outpouring of support from the community. Residents at the adjacent Mount Seymour Park Co-op sprung into action right away offering coffee and their couches for their displaced neighbours to sleep on.
“The community has been amazing,” said Bennett. “Complete strangers have showed up with gift certificates — it’s unbelievable, it’s overwhelming.”
