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North Van fire crew saves Edgemont home from natural gas fire

Natural gas fireplace likely the cause
DNV fire Feb 5 web
District of North Vancouver fire crews attend to a fire-damaged home in the Edgemont area Friday.

District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members have doused a house fire in the Edgemont area.

Just before 11 a.m. Friday, multiple 911 calls came in from the 1300 block of Greenbriar Way where residents spotted smoke and flames coming from the exterior wall of the home.

The owners and tenants quickly got outside while they waited for crews to arrive shortly after, said assistant fire chief David Dales.

“[Staff] aggressively attacked the fire from the outside. They were able to knock down the fire quickly,” he said. “There was extensive damage to the exterior of the building that went all the way up to the attic.”

As they did their overhaul of the burnt-out area, they narrowed down the fire’s point of origin to the infrastructure behind the natural gas fireplace. It will take several days of analysis before they can say exactly what caused the fire, though.

Thankfully, the home is sound enough that the residents will not be forced out for any time, Dales said.

“There's just a big hole in the wall,” he added.

With working smoke detectors and a quick evacuation of the residence, it was a textbook case of everything going right, Dales said.