Courtenay fire crews faced an unusual blaze Wednesday morning (Aug. 21) as flames quickly consumed the Charlie’s Auto Wash business on Puntledge Road.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Jonathan Welsh, the call came in at 6 a.m.
“We were paged for smoke in a building on the Old Island Highway, coming down Ryan Road there was plenty of smoke showing as we arrived we’ve upgraded to a structure fire,” Welsh says.
Crews were prevented from initially entering the building because of a dangerous situation involving the building’s hydro. Numerous electrical arcs and sparks were visible from the roof area until the fire could be disconnected.
The arching noise and smoke had first been noticed by Mandy-Lynn Miller who had just washed and shampooed her vehicle at the business.
“I was looking at the top and I’m like is that smoke? And then at the back of the first bay closest to Value Village we’d seen on the right hand corner getting really red and then all of a sudden sparks shooting out” Miller notes.
She called 9-1-1 and then alerted the driver of a pickup truck that was in one of the three wash bays.
The truck was damaged in the fire but Miller says she was able to help the driver of another vehicle push his away from the burning structure.
“Literally within minutes it was just engulfed, the whole thing,” Miller says.
Crews battled the fire from the outside of the building for an hour before BC Hydro crews could disconnect the building.
“We’re not able to enter the structure at this time to fully pull down the drywall in the roof area to isolate some of the fire that has continued to burn in the attic and the void spaces,” adds Welsh.
He says the exact cause of the fire will have to be determined but noted the witnesses’ account of electrical issues on the roof.
“The arc flashing I’m assuming is connected to the wash bays and mechanical arms that go end to end.”
