RESIDENTS of a fourplex in Horseshoe Bay escaped as flames shot through the roof of their home Thursday morning, thanks to the quick action of an off-duty firefighter.
Dave Moore, a West Vancouver firefighter, had just finished work and had gone to pick up coffee in Horseshoe Bay at around 8: 30 a.m. when he looked up and "noticed a plume of smoke coming up through the trees," he said.
Moore got in his truck and drove up to where the smoke was coming from - a home with multiple suites at 6417 Douglas Street. "As I got out and went around the front of the house, I could hear crackling and glass breaking," he said. Soon flames started pouring from the top floor.
Moore ran over to the house and shouted at a startled resident, Brian Giddens, who was downstairs making coffee. "I heard someone yelling 'Fire, fire. Get out,'" said Giddens.
Giddens and Moore both ran upstairs to where Giddens' 16-year-old son and a friend were still waking up. Moore said the fire was in an enclosed balcony area, with only a sliding glass door holding back the flames.
"They were fortunate to get out as fast as they did," said Moore.
Allan Keay, who was looking after a friend's basement suite, said the fire took hold rapidly.
"It went up really quick and the window exploded out," he said. "I thought the whole thing was going to go."
Keay praised the quick actions of the West Vancouver fire department, which was on the scene within minutes with four trucks and 18 firefighters.
Assistant Fire Chief Martin Leduc said the fire may have started by a candle left burning by the teens in an upstairs TV room the previous night.
Fire investigators remained on the scene Thursday.
