It seems a guardian angel was watching over two families this Christmas week, one in Sooke, another in East Sooke, after suffering serious house fires.
There were several guardian angels watching in fact; from Sooke, East Sooke and Metchosin and fire and rescue departments.
The most concerning occurred in East Sooke on Tuesday afternoon, which began in a house complex at Raglan Place just off of East Sooke Road. While firefighters haven’t determined what caused the fire, it originated from within the basement of the house near the furnace.
One of the home’s resident, a young man, was able to call 911 and escape unscathed with a dog and two cats.
With the combined effort of three fire departments, the fire was put out three and a half hours later, said East Sooke Fire and Rescue Chief Roger Beck.
Beck said a working smoke alarm played a major part in fire crews getting there in time before the fire grew even worse. And while the damage is still serious, the house was saved and repairs can still be made.
Luckily, even the Christmas presents under the tree are safe and sound.
“The [gifts] might smell a bit like smoke, but the fire didn’t fully ruin Christmas for them,” Beck said.
In a separate incident, a fire broke out on Wednesday morning in a townhouse complex on Grant Road West. The owner of a house left a pot on the stove disinfecting baby bottle nipples.
The pot was discarded in time however, and fire rescue put out the remaining fire, leaving the home with “fairly minor” damage.
Still it could have been a lot worse, Sorensen said.
“This townhouse complex has four units in each, so it certainly had a lot of potential to do serious damage.”