BOWSER — Oceanside RCMP were assigned to investigate a suspicious fire at a home north of Qualicum Beach.
Bow Horn Bay Volunteer Fire Department chief Mark Taylor said their crews were dispatched on Monday, Oct. 13 at 4:35 p.m. to a Bowser home on Islewood Dr. located off Island Hwy. West.
“I was first on scene, there was a significant amount of smoke, you could see it from a few minutes away,” Taylor told NanaimoNewsNOW.
While heavy smoke rose from the front of the home, the back side of the structure was fully engulfed in flames, Taylor noted.
As a result, fire crews had to initially take a defensive approach to knocking the fire down.
“The exterior structure is still standing, but the interior on both floors is completely gutted.”
Several people inside the home at the time were able to escape unharmed, Taylor said.
“We switched from defensive to offensive and did an interior attack, put out the rest of the fire and then did all of the hotspots and do overhaul to make sure that it doesn’t re-ignite.”
Fire crews from Dashwood, Qualicum Beach and Coombs-Hilliers assisted Bow Horn Bay members under a mutual aid agreement.
NanaimoNewsNOW has reached out to Oceanside RCMP for further comment on the nature of this fire.
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