A man is taken into an ambulance by paramedics after escaping from a apartment fire in North Vancouver, Tuesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. - Two elderly women killed in a fire at a North Vancouver apartment building were just metres from escaping the fast-spreading flames and thick smoke, making it as far as the first-floor lobby before they died.
A third woman who died in the overnight fire was found in the third-floor hallway, also apparently heading for safety, police and fire officials said Wednesday.
"Sadly, it looks as though it's a strong possibility they were trying to escape the smoke and the flames and they just couldn't get out in time," said RCMP Const. Michael McLaughlin.
The victim's names were not released.
Between six and 12 people were treated in hospital for minor injuries, said McLaughlin.
Fire investigators were investigating the cause of the blaze, which started just before 10 p.m. Tuesday at the three-storey apartment building. They said they would treat it as suspicious until they determine otherwise.
The wood-frame building was about three decades old and wasn't equipped with a sprinkler system, likely because one wasn't required by building codes when the apartment complex was built, North Vancouver's fire chief said.
Firefighters arrived to find large flames and smoke pouring from the complex, where they rescued at least six people stranded on their balconies.
Some of the residents were alerted by 11-year-old Dustan Roach-Matthews, who ran through the halls of the building trying to warn others of the fire.
"I heard a beeping of a fire alarm in someone's apartment, so I walked up to the first floor and I saw smoke coming out of the door," said Dustan. "I ran up and down the hallways yelling, 'Fire! Fire! Fire!"'
Jordan Gilmore was asleep on the couch when his girlfriend woke him up after hearing Dustan yelling outside.
"I just peered over the side of the balcony, and all I saw was a bit of smoke and a little bit of light from flames," said Gilmore, 26.
"By the time we had gotten from the third floor to outside, it was completely engulfed, the flames were 30, 40 feet above the building.
"I can't explain the sound of it; it was like a freight train or a jet engine, that's how intense the flames were."
Gilmore and his girlfriend, Kristi Hume, came across an elderly neighbour who seemed confused and disoriented, and led her outside.
"As we're going down flights of stairs we were unsure what we were running into," Gilmore said. "You could almost see nothing. You couldn't really see the stairs, you just held onto the railing."
The couple's unit, located in the middle of the building at the rear, was relatively untouched by the flames. An apartment light could be seen shining through the window as fire officials cleaned up Wednesday morning.
But three units on the corner of the building appeared completely gutted, the walls and balconies charred black, and many of the 26 suites sustained water and smoke damage.
No one will be allowed back into the building until the investigation is complete and the building is determined to be safe, said fire chief Barrie Penman.
"There's a lot of smoke damage, it doesn't smell very good in there - there's absolutely no reason to push people back in their suites," he said.
"As far as accessing the building and living in it, it will be some time."
There were reports that partying teenagers may have sparked the fire, but neither Penman nor the RCMP could confirm that.
Penman said he has been with the North Vancouver Fire Department for 28 years and can't remember a fire with so many deaths.
"They're all bad fires, actually - it's definitely a tragic fire," he said. "Any time there's a loss of life, it's a bad day."
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Article online since May 7th 2008, 0:00
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