A fire in Matukwun Lane Friday afternoon has been deemed suspicious by investigators, says Sechelt Fire Department chief Dwight Davison.
“What I can tell you right now is the fire is under investigation because it's suspicious in nature and that we are working with the RCMP through the investigation,” Davison told Coast Reporter. “In regards to the cause, I can't really talk too much about it because the actual fire itself is under investigation.”
In a news release sent out Friday night, the RCMP said the fire department called them in to assist with the fire at 4:27 p.m.
Davison said when firefighters arrived on the scene, the neighbours were concerned there was someone in the house, so the first crew on site gained entry and did a quick primary search and confirmed there were no occupants in the home.
He noted, while that might have been concerning for the neighbours, crew members entering a burning building is all part of the job.
“What our crews did is something that they train for all the time,” he said. “So, for us it was very routine, but for the neighbours and the people that aren't involved in the fire service, I'm sure it was a bit of a traumatic event for them.”
Davison said because the call came in during the day, when many volunteer firefighters are at work, it’s protocol to call in mutual aid from neighbouring fire stations. In this case, 15 crew members from Sechelt were joined by four from Roberts Creek and five from Halfmoon Bay. Four apparatus were also used to extinguish the fire in the residence, which suffered heavy damage to the front portion of the home, as well as smoke damage throughout.
Davison also stressed the need to have working smoke alarms in homes. “There were no working smoke alarms in this home. Had that fire happened at a different time, say in the middle of the night and people had been at home sleeping, there wouldn't have been any early warning device for them to get out of the home.”
Police are now working in collaboration with the Sechelt Fire Department to investigate the origin and cause of the fire. At this time, the investigation remains in its early stages and no further details are available.
Anyone with information regarding this fire is asked to call the Sunshine Coast RCMP at 604-885-2266 and refer to file SC 2025-3230.
