216 Spieker caught on fire sometime before 6 (I arrived about 5:55, and it was well ablaze by then). According to one person, the fire was quite advanced before the alarms went off.
There are no reports of injury from the fire. There are 51 units in the building, but no word on how many units were occupied at the time of the fire.
While the fire got away into the bush, BCWS crews were on the scene and were able to start working on controlling the blaze. While it was still burning when I was on scene 45 minutes ago, the active fire behaviour is quite low. It covered .1 ha, and is now under classified as being held.
There are reports that there were pets in the building that people were unable to rescue. One person says she asked if she could open the patio door on her ground floor unit so her cats could get out, but was turned away.
The fire is not yet extinguished, while the four walls are still standing, I am pretty sure that it’s not going to be habitable.
Do not enter the building. Also, stay out of the burn area in the forest and the park.
People who are displaced are asked to check in at the Community Centre. The reception centre will be open tomorrow at 9. There is also a reception centre in Chetwynd that is open at 10
I don’t know yet how many people have been displaced.
We don’t know how the fire started.
I’ll be pulling together a story for the paper tomorrow, which goes to press on Monday. I’ll try and get it online before Thursday, but the next few days are extremely busy with non-paper stuff, and I’ll do what I can do.
Both the fire chief and the mayor were out of town today, so I haven’t been able to get any official statements, other than what the district has posted. Oh. Yeah. The district is posting updates on their Facebook page and website, so check with them if you have any specific questions.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
