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No injuries reported as 5 departments respond to house fire near Parksville

Lack of fire hydrants in rural area meant extra assistance required
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Firefighters were on hand to deal with a blaze at a residence on Hodges Road in Parksville on April 1, 2021. (Michael Briones photo)

Five fire departments were called in to help put out a blaze at a home on Hodges Road near Parksville on Thursday (April 1) afternoon.

“On arrival we found a wide, mobile home style residence with smoke and fire coming from the chimney area from the exterior mainly and part of the attached carport of fire,” said Marc Norris, fire chief for Parksville and Qualicum Beach. “The first team crew knocked the fire down within a couple of minutes of being on the scene.”

Norris pointed out there are no fire hydrants available because the house is located in a rural area. They sought the aid of other departments to ensure that they have sufficient water available. The fire departments that came out to aid the PFD included Qualicum Beach, Errington, Coombs-Hilliers and Nanoose.

“The other departments responded with water tankers because there are no hydrants in this area,” Norris explained. “We want to make sure we bring enough water immediately so we’re not having to call them after the fact.”

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Norris said once the fire was quickly extinguished, they went inside to make sure that there were no other additional concerns. The couple living in the residence got out safely.

“It wasn’t a super challenging fire,” said Norris. “The biggest challenge in this area is the lack of water supply. But thankfully the fire wasn’t major and the water on the first bin truck and water tanker was sufficient.”

The fire is believed to have started in the fire box in the chimney, said Norris.

The house suffered a fair amount of damage, said Norris, who added that the residents have insurance.

“The insurance company will take care of them while remediation happens on their occupancy,” he said.

michael.briones@pqbnews.com

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Michael Briones

About the Author: Michael Briones

I rejoined the PQB News team in April 2017 from the Comox Valley Echo, having previously covered sports for The NEWS in 1997.
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