It took almost 24 hours for crews to douse a fire at an apartment complex in Port Coquitlam. The city says the flames first broke out at 10:50 a.m. on Tuesday and the mayor says it wasn’t until 3:30 a.m. Wednesday that every hot spot was put out.
Mayor Brad West says 51 people have registered at the city’s emergency centre on Wilson Avenue, and that’s where they spent the night.
He explains the fire was tricky to fight because of its proximity to other buildings.
“It was an incredibly stubborn fire. I’m appreciative and thankful for the full and comprehensive response that Port Coquitlam firefighters mounted to both contain this fire and stop it from spreading, because it is in an area where there are a number of apartment buildings,” he said.
In total, West says four buildings were affected by the blaze — one by the fire and three others due to smoke damage.
“Crews will be assessing the building, determining the source of the fire. Trying to determine the cause, of course,” he told CityNews Wednesday morning.
Two people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. No other serious injuries were reported.
West doesn’t think the building where the fire originated had working sprinklers.
“This would not have been a sprinklered building, to my knowledge based on the age of the building. You’ll find tons of sprinklered buildings throughout the province. If buildings were built before building code provincial regulations and municipal regulations required sprinklers, then they won’t have sprinklers.”
He points to last year’s massive fire that destroyed Hazel Trembath Elementary — another building he says didn’t have sprinklers.
West says it remains unclear which units people may be able to return to today or in the coming days or which units will require a significant rebuild. Those answers will come to light following today’s assessment.