NANAIMO — Cobin Pisiak was playing video games in his north Nanaimo basement suite when he was suddenly sprung back into reality.
His smoke alarm started beeping.
Confused, he walked to the other side of his home from his bedroom while noticing the faint smell of smoke as he approached the front door of his Mahoun Pl. home.
“I open the door and my entire patio area is covered in flames,” Mahoun told NanaimoNewsNOW. “I go outside without any shoes on, all of my shoes are burned up.”
The fire was reported on Friday, Oct. 30 just after 7 p.m.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue (NFR) crews contained the fire to the exterior enclosed patio area of the home located off Hammond Bay Rd. near Rutherford Elementary School.
Outdoor patio furniture, a bed frame, several of Pisiak’s shoes and other items were destroyed.
Pisiak said his upstairs landlord used a garden hose to attack the fire before NFR crews arrived.
Waiting anxiously on the sidewalk while wearing partially melted hiking boots, a distressed Pisiak theorized how the fire started.
“The only think I can think of is when I was smoking an ember fell and just kind of sat there smoldering for 15 minutes while I sat out there.”
There were no injuries.
“If anything I inhaled a little bit of smoke, but I don’t feel anything from that,” Pisiak concluded.
He praised NFR for their fast response.
NFR Capt. Kevin Pond said when they arrived the outdoor patio was fully engulfed in flames, with the rising fire about to penetrate the home.
“Fortunately, we had a quick response time, got a line on it and managed to knock it down from the outside and contained the fire.”
Conveniently located a two minute drive from its Fire Station #3, Pond said a speedy response was crucial in minimizing the damage.
“It could have been a matter of 30 seconds and a minute more and would have been getting into the structure which would have made it a much more complicated fire,” Pond said.
He noted some smoke entered the home’s interior, which was being wafted away by NFR crews.
NFR will investigate to determine the formal cause of the fire.
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