Massive flames were seen Saturday evening in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island as a gas station burned down.
The fully-engulfed gas station was caught on video by a bystander.
An evacuated resident told Global News that he witnessed the entire event from his window.
“We were just about to serve dinner when we heard a crash with some tires squealing, followed by some more crashing and then a bang,” Will Lewthwaite said, who lives on the fourth floor of an adjacent building.
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“By the time I got to the window, the car was already in flames and it had struck a pump. I saw a gas station attendant pull the (driver) from the car. It was a heroic move, he dove in there fast, and he had a fire extinguisher out, which he drained within a moment. He was able to pull the lady and her little dog out.”
Within minutes the entire roof was ablaze, Lewthwaite said, leading to the evacuation of a few hundred people in the immediate area.
The fire ignited sometime around 7 p.m. at an Esso station on Anderton Road, and was first reported as a car fire, which quickly turned into a structure fire, firefighters said.
A restaurant attached to the gas station burned down as well.
“The incident escalated very quickly and upon arrival everything was on fire essentially,” Brent Craven said, a Comox Fire Rescue firefighter. “(There were) large amounts of fuel at the rear of the building, and we had propane tanks that were our major concern at the time.”
Two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Those evacuated were allowed to return after a few hours.
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