Safety check led to renovation, saving lives at house fire

Two people and a dog who escaped a fire at a Saanich rooming house are alive and well thanks to some preventive renovation work done on the home after a safety inspection this year.

Fire investigator Lieut. Randall Parnell said a safety inspection of the home in the 100 block of Battleford Avenue noted a basement bedroom window was too small.

“Every bedroom must have two means of egress,” Parnell said, noting the inspection showed that if the door was blocked by fire or debris the occupants might be trapped as the window was too small to use as an exit.

“But they did install a larger window and that’s how two people and a dog got out, because they couldn’t get out the doorway. Something we pointed out just saved their lives.”

Parnell said investigators have a good idea of the fire’s origin, but they are still working on the case.

The fire early Wednesday is “being treated as suspicious until deemed otherwise,” Saanich police said.

Detectives from the Major Crime Unit and Forensic Identification Section are working with Saanich firefighters in the investigation of the blaze.

The investigation will take longer than thought because of the extensive damage and compromised structural integrity of what remains, police said.

Police said most of the people living in the home have now been accounted for, but a thorough search is needed to confirm that all made it to safety.