A mother, her child and their pet turtle are unhurt after a fire gutted the upstairs of their townhome on Friday night.
Crews from the Port Alberni Fire Department responded to a call at 7 p.m. about a fire at Echo Park Estates on Kendall Avenue. Crews from Sproat Lake and Beaver Creek also responded to the tightly packed townhome complex as part of automatic aid and were on standby.
Firemen found one living unit with heavy flames pouring out of second floor bedroom window, Deputy Fire Chief Chris Jancowski said.
Fire was heavy inside so firemen doused the flames from the outside first before going in and mopping up, Jancowski said.
The fire started on the second floor, the front bedroom of which sustained heaviest damage, Jancowski said. No cause has been determined yet, he added.
The occupants, a mother and her child, got out before the fire spread, he added. The mother was taken to West Coast General Hospital as a precaution for observation, Jancowski said. The child was unhurt.
Firemen retrieved the family's pet turtle from the residence after the fire. “It was safe and sound inside its aquarium,” Jancowski said.
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