Three adults and one child can’t go back home following a fire in a rental house in Nanaimo early this morning.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue responded to the alarm in the 300 block of Wakesiah Avenue at about 4:40 a.m. Friday, July 23.
Firefighters arrived on scene to find heavy black smoke and flame billowing from the back and one side of the house, according to Nanaimo Fire Rescue, and the occupants had all evacuated safely.
“When they walked around they found lots of flame on the back side and they pulled an exposure line to protect the house beside,” said Troy Libbus, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of education and training.
Firefighters quickly knocked down the fire on the back exterior of the house and then attacked the fire in the home’s interior.
Libbus said fire investigators are trying to determine just where and how the fire started and Nanaimo RCMP have been called in to help with the investigation.
A man and his son were living in the upper floor of the home and two adults were living in a suite downstairs. Nanaimo Emergency Support Services were called to help the displaced residents find temporary lodging and assist with their immediate needs.
Libbus said damage was extensive to the exterior and throughout the interior of the house.
Capt. Alan Millbank, Nanaimo Fire Rescue chief fire prevention officer, who was investigating the fire, said at the scene he had yet to determine the cause and whether the fire, which appeared to have started at the back of the house, was actually suspicious.
Millbank did not know if the occupants had insurance.
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