A fire in the elevator of a Victoria condominium caused little damage but much confusion as firefighters searched for the source.
Victoria firefighters responded to a call about smoke in a 14-storey building at 1630 Quadra St. at 2:04 a.m. Sunday.
About 100 residents were evacuated after what turned out to be a fire in the electrical panel of an elevator. The fire burned itself out, but smoke filled the building from the seventh floor where the elevator was sitting, to the upper floors.
“It was a hard one to locate,” said Victoria Fire Battalion Chief Bob Jones.
“We cleared everyone out to try to find out where it was coming from. It was not a big deal in the end because there wasn’t a fire at all.”
Firefighters eventually traced the smoke to the elevator. “The whole panel where you press the button was torched and burnt itself out,” Jones said.
“Clearly there was a lot of smoke and that acrid smell of an electrical fire is unmistakable but it was hard to find,” he said.
B.C. Transit supplied a bus for the more 100 residents to take shelter in from the cold night air.
B.C. Ambulance and Victoria police also assisted.
Eighteen firefighters in three engines, one rescue truck, a command car and a ladder truck were sent to the scene.
The fire and smoke was basically confined to elevators and shaft, Jones said. “The elevator had recently been serviced from what I understand.”
There is as yet no cost estimate on the damage.
