A guest was transported to hospital and a floor had to be evacuated after a fire at a three-storey Parksville hotel late Tuesday night.
The Parksville Fire Department responded to a report of the fire at the Travelodge Parksville hotel at 11:34 p.m. The blaze was confined to one suite on the west side of the first floor.
The fire department responded with five units and 20 personnel, and the first crew on the scene found the fire alarm sounding and a fire sprinkler system active. They located and extinguished the remaining fire and ensured no occupants remained in the suite where the fire started.
The lone occupant of the suite was transported by ambulance to hospital in Nanaimo suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.
Fire chief Marc Norris credited sprinklers in the building with saving lives. “I have no doubt that this fire would have been much more severe if not for the working fire sprinkler system in the building,” he said.
Suites on the first floor remain unusable, although access to the second and third floors was restored after the sprinkler and fire alarm systems were re-set.
Fire investigators were at the scene Wednesday to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
