A fire broke out in an Esquimalt apartment building over the weekend, leaving one resident dead.
According to the Township of Esquimalt, the apartment fire broke out at around 10:45 a.m. at the Selkirk Shores building, located at 912 Selkirk Avenue.
Esquimalt Fire Rescue crews responded to the blaze along with their mutual aid partners from CFB Esquimalt and the Victoria Fire Department.
VicPD and paramedics were also on the scene, as is standard protocol. Fortis BC and BC Hydro were also informed of the fire.
“Upon arrival, our firefighters encountered a fully involved suite on the 3rd floor that had vented onto the balcony and was extending to the 4th floor,” said a Township spokesperson.
“An aggressive exterior attack was initiated while an interior team began extinguishing the fire from the 3rd-floor hallway into the suite.”
They added that the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
One individual was killed in the fire, but the rest of the building’s residents were able to be successfully evacuated.
Though VicPD have determined that the cause of the fatality was not suspicious, they do not have further details to share at this time.
Victoria Buzz reached out to the BC Coroners Service regarding the fatality, but as of this publication, have not received a response.
The Township says that the 66 residents who were evacuated took shelter outside the building during emergency crews’ response, with a BC Transit bus on site to provide temporary shelter until they could re-enter the building.
Of the 66 residents who were evacuated, four individuals had to be placed in a hotel for three days and have since vacated the hotel.
