District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services is crediting smoke alarms and a smart decision by a resident with saving a home from a fire in Edgemont, early Wednesday morning.
Around 3 a.m., the homeowner on Lyndene Road was awoken by his smoke alarms, said Assistant Fire Chief Scott Ferguson.
By the time crews arrived, the three family members and their dog were safely outside but the garage was fully engulfed in flames and the fire had spread to two vehicles in the driveway.
Firefighters quickly put out the blaze.
The entire house has smoke damage, Ferguson said, but the structure can most likely be saved, thanks to the home’s owners.
“The residents did everything right,” he said. “They had a working fire alarm that sounded as soon as the fire was detected and woke them up and got them out of the building where they could call 911. That was great.”
Importantly, when the homeowner realized the fire was burning in the garage, he made sure to close the door – one of the best things you can do to prevent a fire from spreading.
“It will definitely slow the fire down and keep it in the room of origin,” he said. “If that door had been open, the superheated gasses and smoke would have travelled throughout the house and would have gotten the rest of the house going as well.”
Fire prevention officers began their investigation later on Wednesday. Ferguson said it’s too soon to say what caused the blaze on Lyndene but he said, garage fires can often be traced back to batteries on charge, malfunctioning vehicles, or improperly stored oily rags, which can spontaneously combust.
Ferguson said the fire underscores the need for everyone to go test their own smoke alarms, which are key to waking people up before the smoke and flames do.
“We do definitely see situations where there are either no smoke alarms in the house or the smoke alarms haven’t been checked and are not operational,” he said, “Of course, we never want to see that situation. We want people to be able to get out of the building as soon as possible, and that’s what these alarms are meant to do.”
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