A woman has died after a fast-moving fire ripped through a home in Campbell River Monday morning.
Crews arrived to a fully engulfed home in the 800-block of Alder Street after flames broke out around 6 a.m.
RCMP confirmed one of the two people who lived in the home, a husband, escaped unharmed.
His wife, believed to be in her 60s, did not make it out of the house and her body was later pulled from the rubble.
The fire tore through the home so fast that it engulfed it in minutes, collapsed the roof, destroyed three vehicle and singed the side of a neighbouring home.
“We heard at a couple points popping sounds that sounded like gun shots,” said neighbour Blake Sanders. “Talking with the fire crews after they said that’s common for propane tanks, tires.”
Police say the blaze likely sparked downstairs, but it isn’t being investigated as suspicious.
“We have to wait and determine through proper investigation, but at this time we aren’t deeming this as a suspicious fire,” said Staff-Sgt. Troy Beauregard of Campbell River RCMP.
The BC Coroners Service is also investigating and RCMP Victim Services have offered support.
The home was still cordoned off behind police tape Monday afternoon and investigators couldn’t get close because the temperature of the debris was still too hot to sift through.
The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.
