A North Vancouver family’s Lionsview home was saved from a Christmas Day fire thanks to a quick 9-1-1 call and response from District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.
With family over for Christmas, residents in the home on the 1300-block of Sunnyside Drive built a fire in the fireplace but later noticed some “light smoke” coming from the wall.
When crews arrived, they found heavy smoke billowing out of the home’s exterior wall and roof, according to assistant fire chief Mike Cairns.
“We were able to open up the side of the wall and access the fire. We used chainsaws and axes and tools,” he said. “We were able to contain it. It was just starting to get into the attic space.”
No one was hurt but the home was left with significant damage, Cairns said, and Christmas celebrations were dampened.
“They were planning to have a small dinner. Their son was there. It was a small family get-together but those plans were changed,” he said.
The fireplace is being looked to as the likely cause, Cairns said.
“It was an older home and the back of the fireplace had broken down over the years. They were doing some renovation work there as well so the heat from the fireplace had caused the wall behind to catch on fire,” he said.
District crews were called to tackle another wall fire, on the 2500-block of William Avenue in the early morning of Dec. 29.
The fire broke out on the stovetop around 1:30 a.m. The owner believed he’d put it out with an extinguisher but called district fire to be sure. They quickly saw the fire was active and spreading, Cairns said.
“The fire had worked its way through the vent system and was burning in the ceiling and roof structure,” he said.
No one was hurt but the home was damaged.
Cairns said the owners should have called 9-1-1 to report the fire before trying to fight it themselves.
