French fries are being blamed for an apartment fire on Peatt Road that sent four RCMP officers to hospital due to smoke inhalation.
A member of the West Shore RCMP was on patrol at 11:00 p.m. on Mar. 8 when he was flagged down by a pedestrian and advised of a fire at 2791 Peatt Rd. in Langford.
Police helped evacuate the smoke-filled building and the four injured officers were released from hospital after being administered oxygen.
Langford Fire responded with members from all three halls, including approximately 17 firefighters in total.
The fire, which originated in a third-floor suite, was contained by the building's sprinkler system.
"They cause some water damage but in this case the fire would have been fairly significant if the sprinklers hadn't contained the fire...some wet floors is a small price to pay," said Assistant Chief Chris Aubrey, adding that only sprinklers in the vicinity of the fire went off, as is standard with modern systems.
Evacuated residents waited in a bus provided by BC Transit and were allowed back into their apartments approximately two hours later.
Only the occupants of the unit where the fire began and the unit directly below weren't able to return to their suites that night.
The investigation into the cause of the fire revealed that it was accidental and resulted from some oil catching fire while a resident was cooking french fries.
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com