A fire consumed a home at The Poplars mobile home park in Elphinstone Wednesday evening.
Neither of the mobile home's two residents were injured, according to Gibsons & District Volunteer Fire Department assistant chief Richard White. The residents' pet dog, unfortunately, died in the fire.
The call-out to the fire at 7 p.m. March 27 found most of the Gibsons fire department members at their weekly training, allowing 27 firefighters to attend the scene, with a further eight members staged back at the fire hall to assist if needed.
When they arrived on scene, the firefighters found a “fully involved” structure fire, with flames coming out the front and the back of the building, said White. The Poplars’ manager met the first responders at the scene and said everyone was out of the home – at which point the firefighters took a defensive strategy. The fire had started in one of the rooms but quickly expanded, said White.
As the Poplars’ layout can be confusing, information bystanders provided to 911 was very useful in a timely response, said White. Bystanders also opened an access gate that allowed the fire equipment to reach the fire location faster.
It took three hours to completely extinguish the fire. Though visible flames were out after an hour and a half, because of the nature of the mobile home, the firefighters had to enter the building and pull all the boarding off of the ceiling and walls to tamp down any hot spots. While the structure remains standing, there is extensive interior damage, said White.
White praised the work of the Emergency Support Services, which attended to support the people who lost their home. “It’s a really great extension for the community to be aware of.
“Thank you to all our community supports who made sure that even on someone’s worst day, everyone was looked after and safe," said White.
BC Ambulance, RCMP, BC Hydro and FortisBC also attended the scene to assess health of victims and firefighters, manage crowd control and ensure power was cut off to the site.
White also noted the dedication of the firefighters. “We had 35 members available to attend. They’re all volunteer members who are trained to the provincial standard – it shows that the community is really taken care of; that there are this many members ready to risk their life to help members of the community," said White.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to confirm a pet dog is confirmed to have died in the fire.
