A carelessly discarded cigarette was the cause of a fire that ripped through multiple homes in East Vancouver on Oct. 7.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services said the cigarette was discarded at the rear of one of the homes and the fire quickly spread to trees and other nearby homes.
“A reminder that smoking material should only be discarded in a metal container of water or sand,” the fire service said on social media.
“Never off balconies, in planters, out of cars or around vegetation.”
Four homes were damaged by the fire, with two of them possibly destroyed.
Naomi Stinton, who lived in one of the homes, told Global News the next day that it was just after dinner when they heard a popping sound outside their back door but they thought it was fireworks.
However, when she opened the door, she said the neighbour’s back deck was on fire.
Stinton said she yelled at her husband to grab the hose and at her kids to grab the phone and go outside and call 911, and then she ran to the house behind them and banged on their door.
“At that point, it was just starting,” she said. “It all just happened so fast. Before the fire trucks came, and they did come quickly, the fire had already jumped from the deck to our house and everything’s gone.”