Jane Seyd
West Vancouver firefighters raced to the scene of a house fire in the British Properties Friday afternoon after an electrical problem started a blaze that caused more than $100,000 damage.
Five fire engines arrived at the 1100-block of Hillside Road around 2:30 p.m. after receiving multiple 9-1-1 calls describing flames shooting from the rear of the two-storey home.
The lone occupant of the home at the time the fire broke out, a teenaged boy, escaped unharmed, after a housekeeper called his cellphone to tell him the house was on fire.
Division Fire Chief Martin Ernst said the home sustained major structural damage in the fire, which started in the garage.
West Vancouver fire crews were called out again on Saturday, after receiving reports of smoke coming from a two-storey home in the 2200-block of Haywood Avenue.
In that case, the family had early warning that something was amiss when a smoke alarm went off. The homeowner discovered the fire in the ceiling of a main floor bathroom and extinguished it with water from the toilet, said Ernst.
Ernst said that fire also appears to have been electrical, starting with a shorted circuit.
