District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services are investigating two early morning fires - in Deep Cove and Lynn Valley - both of which dealt heavy damage and injured residents.
The first blaze was reported to 911 shortly after 2 a.m. when neighbours heard cries for help coming from a home on Lima Road, just off Mount Seymour Parkway.
“When our crews got on scene, the house was heavily involved in fire,” said deputy fire chief Wayne Kennedy. “We had one female occupant that was out of the house but had some significant burns.”
It was too late to get inside and attack the fire at its source, so firefighters focused on getting it extinguished from the outside and preventing it from spreading to nearby homes.
“There were several pets, from my understanding, that were unaccounted for,” Kennedy added.
On Monday morning, investigators were studying the integrity of the Lima Road house and were assessing whether it would be safe for them to get inside to hunt for the cause.
Warner said the victim has since been released from hospital, where she was treated for burns to her hands and face. The home, which the woman in her 40s was renting, is likely a total loss and the victim did not have insurance, Kennedy said.
At 5:45 a.m., another blaze broke out at a home on Sykes Road, near Princess Park. That fire was burning in one of the front rooms, Kennedy said.
“We had an opportunity to get in there quick, knock down the fire and we found a teenager who was actually inside the house, sheltering herself in the bathroom,” Kennedy said.
She was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital as a precaution, Kennedy said.
“We are just getting our fire investigation group up to speed and splitting our investigation team into both houses,” Kennedy said. “We haven’t had a double fire over the morning for quite some time.”
Kennedy stressed the importance of making sure a home’s smoke detectors are in good working order.
“Smoke alarms approaching 10 years or older should be replaced. A good practice would be to change the batteries at the same time we change our clocks for daylight savings time. Install working smoke alarms in bedrooms, outside of sleeping areas, and on each level of the home,” he said.
