Two people have been hospitalized — one with serious injuries — after a residential house fire in Surrey on Tuesday morning.
Flames broke out at the home in East Clayton around 9 a.m. More than a dozen firefighters responded.
One resident is being treated for smoke inhalation, the other for serious injuries, according to Surrey Fire Service Acting Assistant Chief Jerry Siggs.
Global News heard reports that one person had jumped from a balcony, but Siggs couldn’t confirm it.
Neighbour Julia Schellenberg, however, said her husband ran over to their neighbour’s house to raise a ladder for its occupants. She couldn’t confirm someone had jumped either, having asked her husband not to share too many details about the “terrifying” blaze.
“There were lots of people helping, not just him. There were tons of neighbours just trying to get everybody out,” she told Global News.
Get daily BC news
“We were just all eating breakfast and my dad actually smelled the smoke and came out … We looked out the back porch and saw the flames. It was terrifying, honestly, it’s everybody’s worst nightmare.”
Schellenberg said her home seems to have sustained minor but repairable damage. She’s just glad everyone is alive.
Another neighbour, Kaylyn Driscoll, expressed similar gratitude.
“We just were literally in the shower then we got a huge banging on the front door and we got a call from our landlord that there’s a fire and immediately evacuated,” she recalled.
“We got our cats and ran out of here. We’re just kind of waiting to see what happens and hopefully our house is okay … We got our cats and we got ourselves and that’s really what matters.”
The fire’s cause has not yet been determined, but Siggs said an investigator is on his way.