The Sechelt Volunteer Fire Department was called out for two house fires between Friday and Monday.
Fire Chief Trevor Pike said nobody was injured in either of the fires, which caused extensive damage to the buildings.
The first of the two fires happened just before midnight on July 10 in the 5700 block of Medusa Street. Pike said the fire started in a workshop behind the house that was very near a deck and parts of the house itself.
Pike said 20 firefighters and five trucks responded and by the time they arrived the fire had started to spread into a basement area and up the side of the house.
The house was saved, but the workshop is a total loss.
Two people in the home at the time were able to get out safely. The cause remains under investigation.
The second fire was reported early on the morning of July 13 at a home in the 5500 block of Nickerson Road in West Sechelt.
Twenty-five firefighters and six trucks were dispatched to the scene and Pike said the fire departments from Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek were called on under the mutual aid agreement.
Pike said the fire was challenging because of the size of the structure and “unique construction methods,” which meant that although firefighters were able to “knock down” the blaze within minutes, it took another four-and-a-half hours to get at some parts of the building. Firefighters had to remove part of the roof and some of the siding.
A long narrow driveway also meant fire trucks had to stay out on Nickerson Road while firefighters ran hose lines into the building.
Pike said smoke alarms alerted the home’s owners who were able to get out safely. Two people in a rental suite in the building also managed to escape, although one was treated for suspected smoke inhalation by BC Ambulance crews at the scene.
The cause of that fire also remains under investigation.
