COMOX, B.C. -- A man has died after being rescued from a burning home in Comox Friday evening.
Firefighters were called to the home at the corner of Downey Avenue and Rodello Street at 8:14 p.m. after neighbours spotted the blaze and called 911.
They were able to get the man out of the building, but he succumbed to his injuries in hospital, according to the town's mayor.
"Many thanks to the heroic efforts by the Comox Fire Department last night as they tried to save an elderly male from a house fire," Mayor Russ Arnott wrote in a Facebook post Saturday. "Sadly, the man succumbed to his injuries."
Arnott said the efforts of firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading, and offered his condolences to the deceased man's family.
Assistant Fire Chief Jim Lariviere lives just up the street from the home and immediately spotted the flames when the call came in.
"As soon as I walked out my door just up here the whole back end was already fully involved. It was (burning) pretty good when I got here," Lariviere said.
Two neighbours apparently tried to break into a rear door of the home believing an occupant was inside. Firefighters went inside and found the man.
"We found him on what we call the primary search, the first search,” Lariviere said Friday, adding that the man's condition was not known at that time..
Officials will be looking further into the fire, including trying to determine a cause. On Saturday, they told CTV News Vancouver Island there were no working smoke alarms in the home at the time of the fire.
