A family in Gibsons thought they were prepared for the possibility of a house fire but found out they weren't as prepared as they thought last Saturday.
A fire started in the family's music room after a small tea light was left burning on top of the keyboard.
"What we think happened is when we left the room and shut the door, a wall hanging swung out and caught fire," said Angela Gauthier.
She and husband Lindsey were in an adjacent room with their two children when Angela started to smell smoke, and noticed smoke creeping along the roof, coming from the music room.
The family consider themselves very fire conscious, making sure they always have a fire extinguisher on hand. "But this time we didn't put it back We weren't sure where it was at first," said Lindsey.
The family recently moved to Seaview Road in Gibsons from Chilliwack and were renting the home before moving into their new home at the end of June.
"Because we were staying on Seaview for just a little while, we didn't transfer our house insurance," said Lindsey.
That decision proved tragic when Lindsey realized his music room, along with $50,000 worth of musical equipment, was engulfed in flames.
Once Angela saw the smoke, she rushed her two children, aged 11 and seven, out of the house while husband Lindsey tried to put out the fire raging in the music room.
"The flames were probably three feet across and creeping up the wall. The timbers in the roof were starting to burn as well," said Lindsey.
Knowing he didn't have renter's insurance, he tried to put out the fire by beating it with a blanket and called for his wife to bring him the fire extinguisher.
But the extinguisher had been misplaced, so Lindsey tried throwing water bottles from the family's water cooler on the blaze, hoping it would melt the plastic and the water would douse the flames.
"I was trying everything I could and hauling out my equipment at the same time," he said.
He described the smoke in the room as "thick and black." When Angela saw the smoke building up, she opened the windows to let it escape. That proved to be a serious mistake, as the newfound air made the fire burn hotter and faster.
"I'm educated about fire, and I thought I knew what to do. But when it's happening, I guess you forget things," Angela said.Gibsons fire chief Bob Stevens, said Angela's experience is common.
"People get a feeling of complacency. They don't think it's going to happen to them, and if it does they feel ready to deal with it. But in an emergency situation, level-headed thinking goes out the window," said Stevens.
He notes Lindsey's efforts to save his equipment from the fire aren't condoned by the fire department, but says, "We probably would have had a harder time trying to restrain him."
After the fire was put out by the Gibsons Fire Department, Lindsey was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and burns on his hands.
Angela and Lindsey want to thank their friends and neighbours who helped them during the emergency, as well as the fire department who worked so vigilantly to put out the blaze and even tarped Lindsey's music equipment sitting out in the rain.
The family already feels welcome and supported here by the people of the Coast and have just moved into their new home, which Lindsey notes "will definitely have fire insurance."
