1 dead after Esquimalt apartment building fire

The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed a woman in her 60s is dead following a massive fire at an apartment building in Esquimalt Sunday.

Crews from Esquimalt and Victoria responded to the fire in the 800-block of Craigflower Road just before 4 p.m., along with Victoria police and paramedics.

A witness told Global News she saw two women on a balcony calling for help as the fire approached.

“The people were trying to make them jump, so the people came with a blanket,” she said. “And we were screaming, ‘Jump, jump, jump,’ but none of them would jump. And so I think they are dead.

“By the time the fire department came, I think they were gone, because they stopped screaming.”

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People could be seen on stretchers in the street outside the four-storey building. One firefighter on scene told Global News that several other residents were rescued after witnesses said they were trapped inside.

There’s no word yet on the cause of the fire or the condition of any of the residents inside, including the person on the balcony.

WATCH: (Aired Sept. 8, 2017) A devastating fire in Victoria is another example of B.C.’s housing affordability crisis.

1:44 A devastating fire in Victoria is another example of B.C.’s housing affordability crisis.

BC Ambulance Service says one patient was taken to hospital, but wouldn’t comment on that person’s condition.

— With files from Jon Azpiri