A fire that caused significant damage to a Birch Street home originated near an air conditioning unit, according to investigators.
Mission Fire/Rescue Service was called to Birch Street near Sixth Avenue Monday at around 3:15 p.m. for reports of a small fire. Once the first engine arrived, the home’s front window blew out, said Chief Ian Fitzpatrick, with heavy smoke and fire pouring forward.
The fire was quickly quelled, he said, but not before heavy damage to the room and roof was caused.
Fitzpatrick said a babysitter upstairs heard the smoke alarm sounding in the downstairs unit and moved the children outside and called 911.
Fire inspectors could not confirm the cause of the blaze, but said it started next to the air conditioner. All seven residents were taken under the Emergency Social Services wing, and housed at a nearby hotel for 72 hours.
Stokes Avenue fire
An electrical fire earlier this month at a Stokes Avenue home was blamed on a hydro bypass.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Aug. 6, Mission firefighters attended the single-family home after callers saw a large amount of smoke, and heard loud explosions.
BC Hydro was called after the fire was seen near the meter on the side of the house. Once firefighters entered the house, they kept the fire contained to one room.
Fitzpatrick said the presence of a hydro bypass prompted a call to the RCMP, who swept the house when the fire was knocked down, eventually finding approximately 300 marijuana plants in the basement behind a false wall.