Two people are dead after an overnight fire seared through a two-storey apartment complex in Lynn Valley.
Neighbour Jean McCreesh described the blaze that ripped through the Whiteley Court at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning as a “big, churning ball of fire.”
“By 2:40 a.m. it was like looking at hell,” she said.
Several neighbours recounted hearing an explosion and seeing sparks atop the wood-frame building.
Neighbour Maxine Erskine said she was awoken by the crackling of the fire.
“It sounded just like a freight train,” she said.
Both Erskine and McCreesh described a young father frantically waving his arms to get help after most of the residents had rushed to safety. At that point, the building looked like it would be consumed by the fire, according to McCreesh.
“Nobody was getting out of there,” Erskine said.
North Vancouver RCMP have revealed the two tenants who died belong to the same family but are not disclosing any other details.
“That’s our main heartbreak,” said District of North Vancouver assistant fire chief Walt Warner.
While it’s much too early to pinpoint the cause of the blaze, Warner said it was “extremely hot.”
A full investigation of the fire is now being conducted by the North Vancouver RCMP Arson Unit, District of North Vancouver Fire Department and the BC Coroners Service.
Despite that heat, three residents may have saved the life of a disabled woman who lived on the first floor of the building, according to McCreesh.
Neighbour Jim Thompson recounted rushing to the scene and finding the fire had torn through the corridor and was at his neighbour’s door.
Along with two other tenants he didn’t know, Thompson helped lift the woman out of her side window and to safety.
“We got her out,” he said.
“If it hadn’t been for those men she would have died,” McCreesh said. “I don’t know who the two other men were, but that woman had guardian angels.”
“I just did what needed to be done,” Thompson said.
Thompson spent most of the evening on oxygen in emergency care but said he had stopped coughing and was recovering from his smoke inhalation.
Another 11 residents were hospitalized.
As firefighters continued to target hot spots on Monday morning, Warner estimated 18 units are uninhabitable. Approximately 70 people lost their homes in the fire, according to RCMP.
“We’re making sure everybody’s got a nice, warm, safe, place to sleep tonight,” he said.
Due to the intensity of the blaze, the entire area was evacuated. Dozens of neighbours spent the night in a makeshift shelter at Mickey McDougall as firefighters knocked down the blaze until dawn.
Forensic crews were on site Monday morning to determine the cause of the fire.
Warner could not confirm if the building’s fire alarm sounded during the blaze.
After 23 years in the area, McCreesh said many residents were traumatized by the fire.
“When you see it in real life, it’s really life altering,” she said. “We’ll never feel the same here again.”
“I was watching giant embers flying up and I kept thinking if this had been in the summer . . . that whole forest behind us could’ve gone like a matchstick,” said Erskine.
Emery Village resident Terry Wagner noted a neighbour had turned a garden house on the Emery Village rooftops to keep the blaze from spreading.
“Every neighbour out here who had the ability to do anything was out here trying to help,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re neighbours, we’re friends and we’re family and we look out for each other.”
Warner extended his gratitude to B.C. Ambulance, the North Shore Emergency Management Office and his fellow firefighters from the City of North Vancouver.
“There’s a lot of people that fought really hard tonight.”
Anyone hoping to offer a hand to the displaced is welcome to make a donation to urban relief organization the Harvest Project, said development officer Kevin J. Lee.
Given that many of the survivors fled with “whatever they were wearing,” Lee suggested clothing, personal hygiene products, and food are most needed.
Harvest Project is located at 1073 Roosevelt Crescent between Capilano Mall and Pemberton Road.
“Anyone suffering with this thing is welcome to drop in any time,” Lee said.
The Harvest Project is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
