Early morning fire rips through house on Chatham Street
By Nelson Daily Staff
The sound of sirens filled the Heritage City Tuesday morning as first responders raced to a report of a house fire in the 300 block of Chatham Street, off Nelson Avenue.
Nelson Fire Rescue in a media release said the Fire Hall received a report of a house on fire with flames being seen from neighbouring streets as people headed to work. Smoke could be seen by early morning golfers at Granite Pointe Golf Course.
Nelson Fire Rescue initially sent both on duty members immediately with call for additional off-duty members responding from home.
“When the first crew arrived on scene, one house was fully involved in fire with extension to the two neighboring houses on either side,” Nelson Fire Rescue release said.
“The first arriving crew’s primary objective was to ensure that all occupants were out of the three houses and to prevent the fire from further extending to the adjacent properties.”
“Nelson Police Department members were on scene and assisted with evacuation of the three houses, as well as critical hose deployment to provide exposure protection,” Nelson Fire Rescue release added.
Nelson Fire Rescue said the house with the initial fire is heavily damaged and the preliminary fire investigation is under way.
“In all, 23 firefighters responded to the incident with two fire engines, one ladder truck and two utility vehicles,” Nelson Fire Rescue said.
“No injuries were reported as a result of this incident (and) the cause of the fire is still under investigation.”
Nelson Fire Rescue would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Nelson Police Department members, BC Ambulance Service personnel, Nelson Hydro and FortisBC Gas for their assistance with this incident.
NPD members in particular were extremely helpful with the initial setup and suppression efforts and were instrumental in limiting the loss to the exposure houses.
Nelson Fire Rescue said crews remained on the scene extinguishing hot spots and doing salvage and overhaul.
Nelson Fire Rescue would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to ensure that they have working smoke alarms in their homes. Any smoke alarms that are 10 years or older should be replaced with a new one.
Nelson Fire Rescue will continue to provide updates when information becomes available.
Nelson Police Department members quickly secured the fire scene. — Nelson Fire Rescue photo
Nelson Fire Rescue used its ladder truck to pump water onto the house fire. — Nelson Fire Rescue photo
Smoke could be seen across town from people heading to work. — Submitted photo
First responders kept the public away, blocking off traffic at the High Street and Nelson Avenue interesection. — Submitted photo
