Two days after a house fire burned a Bella Bella home to the ground, another fire sparked just three doors down from the first.
“When I noticed some smoke, I thought someone was burning a brush pile,” said Thomas Schoen in an email to Efteen.
“When I looked in that direction again, one or two minutes later, there was a lot of dark smoke and a strong smell in the air.”
Schoen was visiting Bella Bella for work and witnessed the two fires destroy homes on the same street as the bed and breakfast he was staying at. The first erupted in the early hours of Thursday, June 5, waking Schoen from his sleep. He noticed the second while having his morning coffee on Saturday, June 7. After heading outside to investigate, Schoen helped two ladies using electric scooters exit a home neighbouring the second house fire.
He said the fire on June 7 began at around 8:45 a.m. and the Waglisla Fire Department was on scene within five minutes. By noon, the fire was completely extinguished; while the walls were still standing, Schoen said the home was destroyed.
No injuries have been reported, and the community began collecting money and clothing for the occupant of the home lost to the June 7 fire.
