Victoria firefighters acted quickly to douse a fire and vacate residents within a supportive housing facility on Swift Street after discovering the building’s water supply had been tampered with.
On Friday, March 1st at around 7:30 p.m., the Victoria Fire Department was dispatched to the Victoria Cool Aid Society’s Swift House on Swift Street after reports of alarm bells.
Upon arrival at Swift House, fire crews found water coming from a room on the 3rd floor and could hear the sprinkler system pumping water within the suite.
When the fire crew entered the unit, they were met with heavy smoke and located the flames at the back of the room.
Acting Captain Phillips declared the incident to be a structure fire and quickly implemented a strategy for dousing the fire.
According to a social media post by the fire department, this is when they were met with unexpected challenges—including the standpipes (building water supply) which reportedly appeared to be tampered with, forcing crews to switch their approach.
Firefighters used a supply line directly from the truck rather than using the building supplied water and were able to help vacate tenants with mobility issues from the fire floor.
Crews reported that it was extinguished quickly and two people were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
Acting Captain Phillips passed on the concerns regarding the standpipes to Victoria Fire Prevention, who will follow up.
“It certainly did impede suppression efforts as we had to change tactics and drag a 2.5” hose to the start of the rear stairwell,” said Phillips.
“Additionally, because of the delay, the sprinklers remained on in the suite, and the water damage to the building couldn’t be stopped as quickly.”
