In a rare occurrence, Saanich firefighters were called to two separate fires in the same apartment building in the same hour on Thursday morning.
The first fire sparked in a residential building in the 200-block of Regina Avenue – just off Tillicum Road – at 10:11 a.m. on Oct. 8. When crews from the temporary fire station at the Pearkes Arena arrived, they found a small clothing fire in a first-floor unit and quickly doused the flames, said Capt. Carl Trepels of the Saanich Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division.
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Firefighters had just returned to the station when a second fire was reported in the same apartment building at 10:49 a.m. This time, the blaze started on the patio of a second-flood unit and was likely the result of a cigarette that hadn’t been properly disposed of, Trepels said.
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The building was evacuated both times and crews were quick to contain the fires, he said, adding that the timely reactions of the residents, building staff and firefighters resulted in the fires causing minimal damage.
Trepels said it’s rare for firefighters to be called to the same building for two separate fires within an hour.
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