A massive fire during a windstorm destroyed a partially built condo building in Saanich early Wednesday.
The under-construction building in the 3800-block of Quadra Street and Palmer Road was designed as a six-storey wood-frame complex with 77 units.
The District of Saanich said in a statement that the fire broke out at about 12:40 a.m. Fuelled by high winds, it quickly spread, with embers reaching as far as Saanich Road.
The fire appeared to be largely under control after about an hour.
A team of 22 firefighters from the Saanich Fire Department, assisted by the Victoria Fire Department, was able to contain the fire and quickly extinguish several spot fires in the area, including one on the balcony of a building across the street, said Saanich Fire Chief Michael Kaye.
Kaye called it “an extremely challenging situation under difficult conditions.”
Wind-whipped flames, reaching far into the sky, could be seen from as far away as Bear Mountain in Langford and even in Port Angeles, Washington.
Donna Rae of Port Angeles spotted a “large, bright-orange glow across the strait” and pulled out her binoculars. “I could see explosions and whirls of flame from here — 27 miles as the crow files.”
“I’d never seen anything like it. It was crazy,” she said Wednesday.
Homes, apartments and condos in the 1100-block of Palmer Road, the 1100-block of Union Road, the 3800-3900 block of Quadra Street and on Lodge Avenue were evacuated due to flying embers amid high winds.
Residents reported waking to a sky filled with the pinkish colour of smoke and fire and watching as chunks of debris, some the size of watermelons, flew through the sky.
Vehicles parked on streets nearby heated up from the intensity of the blaze. Some on Palmer Road appeared to have suffered heat damage, with headlights that looked as though they had melted and cracked windows.
Part of the upper storey of a Palmer Road house adjacent to the construction site was blackened.
Blackened debris was scattered on properties west of Quadra Street, with countless small pieces and chunks covering lawns and driveways.
Sarah Campden, who lives on nearby Cumberland Avenue, awoke about 12:45 a.m. to a massive bang. When she got outside, flames were shooting above the tree line.
“There were multiple other transformers blowing and you could tell propane tanks were going off,” she said.
“You could clearly see the ash blowing to the north, flowing over the other apartment buildings to the north, across Palmer, on the east side of Quadra.”
Flames were shooting straight up, she said. “I was just amazed [firefighters] kept it under control.”
Neighbours poured onto the streets early Wednesday morning, watching the massive flames and the wind sending sparks and chunks of debris flying through the air.
Cecil Smith, who lives in a condominium on nearby Glenora Road, said he heard a bang before “all the fire alarms went off and we all came out on the street.”
One of his neighbour’s window frames was glowing red, he said. “It was very hot and very intense and very quick. It burned very, very fast.”
The fire broke glass on the north end of the building but the south end is fine, Smith said.
Sean Blair said the “huge inferno” was about 200 metres from his home on Falmouth Road southwest of the fire. He looked out the window to see an an orange glow on the trees and went outdoors.
“We could see these gigantic flames,” he said, adding the flames were almost twice as high as a nearby five-storey apartment building. “There was this cloud of sparks that were just going everywhere.”
Trevor Hallihan, who lives on Palmer Road, said he woke up his parents and they all went outside as firefighters tackled the blaze. He heard a number of banging sounds and then a “very audible pop of one of the transformers blowing.”
The fire burned “extremely fast. It went up like a match. The whole thing was just like a fireball.”
Patricia Fernando, who lives on Union Road north of the fire, said she got a phone call from her husband, who was at work, telling her about the fire.
She woke her parents and tenants, grabbed her wallet and made sure her two small dogs were safe before everyone headed outdoors to stand in the driveway. “It was a very terrifying night.”
Those advised to leave their homes were initially provided shelter on sa国际传媒 Transit buses, but the District of Saanich later established an emergency reception centre at Saanich Commonwealth Place, where 15 people were provided shelter, food and assistance, the district said, adding affected residents were able to return home Wednesday morning.
The district said its crews were at the site on Wednesday, cleaning up debris and limiting run-off into storm drains.
Saanich police closed several blocks around the fire scene and asked people to avoid the area. Quadra Street adjacent to the fire was expected to be closed for most of Wednesday and into Thursday. sa国际传媒 Transit’s No. 6 bus route was on a detour.
Power was out in a large area surrounding the fire scene. sa国际传媒 Hydro’s website said 2,436 customers were affected by the power outage. Saanich said BC Hydro was working to restore power to the affected area, but outages were expected to persist due to “complexities involving construction scaffolding on power lines and fire damage.”
Mike Miller, president of Abstract, the project developer, said Wednesday that the company was notifying the 72 buyers who had who signed pre-sale agreements.
The one-and-two-bedroom project had been expected to be ready for occupancy in late summer to early fall of 2025, Miller said. “We were framed up to the roof and we were just getting ready to start drywall.”
Miller said he spoke with Wayne Farey, president of general contractor Campbell Construction, about what might have caused the fire, but the cause is so far unknown. “It’s all just speculation right now.”
Abstract has insurance, he said.
“Our biggest concern is obviously people’s immediate health and safety,” he said, adding that he’s been told there were no injuries, and it appears there was no other property damage.
“We’re very very grateful to the first responders,” who did an amazing job, Miller said.
It’s too soon to say what an updated construction schedule would look like, or what the next steps will be, he said.
Campden said that on Wednesday morning, she had to inform some workers headed to the construction site that it had been reduced to ash. “I said there’s nothing there, the building is gone.”
— With files from Cindy E. Harnett
