Fire at home where weapons were seized 2 weeks prior

UPDATED: Jan. 24

Prince Rupert RCMP has confirmed the housefire at 1958 11th Ave. East on Saturday morning, (Jan. 22) was the residence where weapons were seized on Jan. 8.

“The house in question is the one where the search warrant was executed a couple of weeks ago and where all the weapons were seized,” Const. Gabriel Gravel of the RCMP told The Northern View in a Jan. 23 email.

“The Prince Rupert Fire Department confirmed to us that the fire was not deemed suspicious so for that reason, the Prince Rupert RCMP will not be investigating this further,” he said.

Original:

Two people were transported to hospital for medical evaluation by BC Ambulance crews after a morning fire on 11th Ave. East, Jan. 22.

Deputy Fire Chief Chad Cooper said a team of more than a dozen firefighters attended the blaze which damaged the main floor, and exterior of the residence created smoke damage throughout and melted siding on a neighbouring property.

Cooper said crews were dispatched to the 11:37 a.m. call and as soon as they arrived on the scene at the home in the 1900 block, the fire was upgraded to a working structure fire as smoke would be seen down the street.

“Crews made an aggressive exterior attack and knocked the fire out quickly,” the deputy chief said, adding there were some concerns with the extreme wind conditions, but the flames were contained quickly.

A male and a female tenant of the home managed to “self extricate” and informed fire crews there were no other victims inside, Cooper said.

However, fire crews did complete a search of the residence and rescued a cat. Despite applying CPR and oxygen the pet succumbed to smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but is under investigation, Cooper said.