Man dies in Victoria apartment fire
A man is dead after an apartment fire Monday morning in the James Bay neighbourhood of Victoria.
The Victoria Fire Department received several 911 calls about the fire in a top-floor unit of the Village Green Apartments at 118 Menzies Street.
A tenant living below the unit that caught fire says she was jolted awake by a loud noise, heard yelling and ran from her suite around 8 a.m.
"I heard a bad, bad, bad noise," says Sofia Boulede. "I’m afraid because I don’t know what’s happened."
Victoria police say detectives with the major crime unit are investigating, however the fire is not believed to be criminal.
"We’re treating the [cause of the] fire as unknown at this time," said acting fire chief Dan Atkinson.
The building sustained significant damage but no other injuries were reported, police said.
THOUGHT IT WAS A TEST
Two tenants tell CTV News the apartment complex was supposed to have a fire alarm test Monday, and initially the residents thought they could ignore the alarms when they started to sound.
"I went back to sleep and then all of a sudden somebody is banging on the door and telling us to get out," says resident Cheryl Rinehert.
A mother named Danyelle had a similar reaction, but her daughter saw the smoke and flames outside.
"I ran outside and it was literally bellowing from the apartment," she says. "I couldn’t believe it. I thought, 'Those are our neighbours and people’s homes just gone in an instant.'"
Atkinson said six to eight units were likely damaged in the blaze and ensuing response.
"Given the fire load and the amount of water required to put the fire out, I would suspect the water and smoke damage will extend into multiple suites," the acting fire chief said.
Boulede and her husband are temporary residents from Morocco who’ve been living at the complex since the start of the year.
She says she’s most worried about the survival of the government documents supporting their residency.
Many people in the neighbourhood stopped to watch firefighters work, expressing their concern.
Firefighters were seen entering the building with axes and a chainsaw. Later, firefighters were cutting through the building’s roof with the saw.
"It’s kind of scary because so many families live in that complex," says community member Jim Hill.
Another tenant of the Village Green Apartments says she was terrified.
"I’m in the building right next door," she said. "It’s really windy today so I wasn’t sure if it was going to spread over to our building."
Atkinson says the fire had been burning for a while before crews were alerted to the scene – and that a lot of stuff inside the unit of origin made the fight to suppress the flames challenging.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.