'That was an incredible fire"

Condominium blaze damage could reach $1 million
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published July 23, 2003


A condominium complex near Canada Way and Boundary Road suffered up to $1 million in damage Thursday afternoon in a massive fire that forced 81 residents out of their homes.

"This was an incredible fire," said Captain Perri Talkarri, the lead investigator of the blaze that was first reported at 11:30 a.m. "There is very minor damage to the inside of the building, but the outside balconies and roof assembly in the affected area are almost completely gone."

The entire building suffered water damage, and none of the residents will be allowed back into the complex until this weekend, at the earliest.

Despite the massive size of the fire - the smoke was visible throughout much of Burnaby - all of the residents made it out of the building safely. One firefighter was taken to hospital with severe cuts to his hand, and a dog was taken to the SPCA for treatment after it was pulled out of the burning building on a stretcher.

Debbie Clyne, the emergency social services director for the city of Burnaby, praised the city's firefighters for their quick response and heartfelt attempts to assist the burned-out residents.

"One thing that stands out was this box of burned photo albums that had been pulled out of the worst burned- out suite," Clyne said. "At around 7 p.m., the owner got home from work and pulled up to the building, and then burst into tears."

"She came over and we showed her that the firefighters had rescued the photos on their own. It turns out she was a newlywed and she was so grateful," Clyne said.

"Here these guys are trying to fight fires and they consider photo albums. They have huge hearts."

After the fire was extinguished and the building was safe to re- enter, a crew of four firefighters was assigned the duty of escorting tenants into their suites to collect their most needed possessions such as medications, pajamas and clothes for the next day.

While only a dozen suites suffered fire damage, virtually the entire building suffered water damage.

"We've got swimming pools inside," said Talkarri. "In the parkade, we had water just raining through the suspended slats and through every hole and orifice in the walls. We were pumping 3,000 gallons per minute into that building for about two hours, so, do the math."

Kevin Chu, who has lived in the Cascade West building since it opened 11 years ago, was at home on vacation playing on his computer when he first noticed the power fluctuate and then heard people running. When he looked out onto his first-floor balcony, he saw "burning chunks" of debris falling from above, and immediately exited the building.

Diane Quan rushed home from work and ran into the burning building to rescue her pet Shetland sheep dog after she learned the building was on fire.

"I don't care if it's on fire, I'm getting my dog," Quan told the Burnaby NOW.

While firefighters said her actions are understandable, they also warn others to leave the rescue efforts to the professionals.

"That was a very foolish thing to do," Talkarri said. "We had to get our guys off the fire to find her."

Meanwhile, Clyne said most of the suites were self-owned and most of the residents had insurance.

"We always advise people who are renting to buy content insurance so they will be looked after in the event of a fire," Clyne said. "That's very important."

Clyne also said that a majority of residents were able to find alternate accommodations on their own, although two families did make use of the social service registration centre that was set up briefly at Bonsor rec centre.

And while many tenants believe the fire began on a first-floor balcony, Talkarri said the early evidence is pointing him at a second-floor balcony that has the telltale marks of an ignition source.

"On the ground floor, only one small wall suffered damage, the window is intact, the vinyl is intact and the sockets are intact. But if you go to the second-floor balcony, the plywood is completely consumed, the vinyl is gone, the window frames are gone and even the studs have real heavy charring."

Talkarri said one of his next tasks will be to interview the tenants of the three suites closest to the fire source to determine if any were home in the moments prior to the fire, and whether they were using anything combustible.

The building's management company is currently in the process of setting up a trust fund to assist those tenants who lost the most in the fire, and details of that campaign should be known early next week.