The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed that a woman in her 60s died in an apartment fire on Craigflower Road in Esquimalt Sunday afternoon.
Witnesses reported seeing a woman screaming for help from a fourth-floor balcony as smoke billowed from the apartment windows shortly before 4 p.m.
The witnesses said a group of bystanders tried to coax the woman to jump into a blanket below, but she appeared too afraid to make the leap.
Esquimalt Fire Chief Chris Jancowski said other residents of the building suffered minor injuries while they were being rescued from the fourth floor.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Victoria resident Judy Sigmund said the woman who died in the fire was her friend Judith Burke, who specialized in studying water quality.
Burke has family in Ontario, but Sigmund was not aware of any relatives locally.
Years ago, Burke was in a chemistry class taught by Sigmund’s husband, Charles, at Langara College, Sigmund said.
The Sigmunds and Burke later became friends when they volunteered for the Georgia Strait Alliance to do tests on intertidal zones on Salt Spring Island and in the Victoria area, Sigmund said.
Burke did some work on the Sooke River and worked for the province, her friend said.
Sigmund said Burke was friendly and outgoing and was “questioning, always wanting to understand things.”
Burke had most recently communicated with her friend via email, sending photos of renovations in her apartment, where a new bathtub had been installed.
Daniel Woods, 26, said he was sitting on the couch in a house across the street when he noticed black smoke billowing from the upper floor of the Lindsay Place apartment complex at 843 Craigflower Rd.
He alerted his father, Rollie, who said that by that time, other people were already stopped on the street, calling 911.
“It had obviously just started, because the smoke was just coming out of the side window and the front window and the balcony,” Rollie Woods said. “And then a woman came out on the [fourth-floor] balcony. She clearly was trying to find refuge from the fire.
“At that time, we couldn’t see any flames, but a considerable amount of smoke.”
Woods said a number of motorists and people from the neighbourhood grabbed a blanket and were encouraging the woman to jump.
“You could see that the flames were starting to come out the windows, but unfortunately — and I’m not sure whether she would have survived the jump or not — she couldn’t bring herself,” he said. “She was looking over the balcony, but she couldn’t bring herself to jump.”
A short time later, the windows burst and flames were shooting out onto the balcony, he said.
“I mean, I give a lot of credit to those folks who were trying to help her. There were probably 10 guys that had this blanket and they were trying to get her to come out the window and come over the balcony.
“I’m doubtful whether that would have really helped her, but they really risked their own safety to try to help her. At the end of the day, they couldn’t convince her to make the leap.”
Robert Blanchet, who was driving along Craigflower when he spotted smoke billowing from the apartment, confirmed Woods’ version of events.
“I immediately called 911 and another guy on the street was calling them,” he said. “I got through then and gave them as much information as I could.”
Blanchet said he could see a woman on the balcony and a group of people below trying to coax the woman to jump onto a blanket.
“But she was too afraid to jump,” he said. “It’s almost 40 feet.”
Jancowski, the Esquimalt fire chief, praised the bystanders who tried to rescue the woman.
“Any time you have civilians trying to help civilians in grave situations like this, it’s to be applauded,” he said. “Their actions to try to coax her, to help her and assist her in a time of need is greatly appreciated.”
Jancowski said it took about 30 minutes to contain the fire. “Multiple suites were involved,” he said. “I believe the intensity of the fire was in one unit, but it spread to a second unit, for sure.”
He said Esquimalt was assisted by fire departments from View Royal, CFB Esquimalt and Victoria. Jancowski said Monday that investigators were still examining the damage.
