VICTORIA -- One person has been taken to hospital after a fire broke out at an apartment building near Beacon Hill Park on Friday afternoon.

Victoria Fire Chief Paul Bruce says the fire broke out on the second floor of the building, located in the 600-block of Battery Avenue, before it spread up to the third floor.

The building was evacuated, though the occupant of the suite where the fire broke out had to be taken to hospital for treatment of minor burns and smoke inhalation.

"The flames were at least 10 feet out the window, shooting outside and (there was) a lot of thick black smoke," said Saul Anderson, who lives across the street from the building. "A lot of smashing of glass, exploding or whatever, crashing to the ground on the driveway-side of the building here."

"So it was pretty intense," he said. "Honestly, I was worried that, looking at the flames, (I was) thinking… it looked like the whole building was going to go up."

Firefighters say the flames damaged two to three suites, though a fire investigation has not yet been completed.

Victoria’s fire chief says fire investigators are en route and no cause of the fire has been determined yet.

Emergency Support Services teams have also been deployed to help assist residents of the building.

Pets were also reported missing but were later recovered.

"The cats have been accounted for and are in the possession of their owners right now and those people are very grateful and very satisfied with that rescue," said Bruce.