One woman dead after apartment fire in Saanich, B.C., on Vancouver Island

One woman is dead and two other people are in hospital after a fire at an apartment building in Saanich, B.C., broke out before dawn on Friday.

Fire crews were called to the apartment in the 2600 block of Richmond Street, two blocks from Jubilee Hospital, around 4:30 a.m. The building was evacuated as flames spread through multiple units in the top floor of the building.

Assistant Deputy Chief Rod Heppel  of the Saanich Fire Department said four people were rescued from fourth floor balconies. Two people were taken to hospital, though the extent of their injuries is not known.

Saanich Police Detective Sgt. Damian Kowalewich said later Friday morning that a woman in her 60s was found unresponsive in the hallway of the building after the fire was out. She has since died from their injuries. 

"Every indication is that the female did succumb to her injuries ... from this fire," he explained. "We're working ... with next of kin right now to communicate with the family."

Saanich Fire Chief Michael Burgess said in an interview on CBC's All Points West Friday afternoon that fire crews "did the best they could to help this person, though I think it's safe to say the event had taken place long before our crews arrived on-scene."

About two dozen residents gathered outside the building as firefighters doused the flames. Matthew Smith lives in the building and said he woke up to the sound of the fire alarm.

"We proceeded outside," he said Friday morning. "That's when I noticed about a hundred-foot-tall [30-metre-tall] column of smoke. I ran around the corner and saw flames shooting out the patio door, about 15 feet [four metres]."

The fire was out by 7:30 a.m. Jerry Tomljenovic, Saanich fire captain and information officer, said two units in the apartment are severely damaged by fire. Approximately six units are directly affected by smoke and water, while 18 units are indirectly affected.

Burgess that because it's an older apartment, there was no sprinkler system. However the building "certainly did have a fire alarm system which did activate."

Around fifty displaced residents are now being given "food, water and lodging" at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre, said Tomljenovic, adding that the building will undergo air quality testing and a structural integrity assessment to determine whether it's stable.

'Much of the building is still tenable, so we'll let [the residents] know as soon as we possibly can," he said.

Kowalewich said officials are investigating the cause of the fire and noted surveillance footage might provide important information.