Aros Road family homeless after midnight fire Thursday claims rancher-abode
Cowichan Bay-area family is homeless after Thursday night's fire claimed their rancher-type home at 784 Aros Road.
The blaze off Telegraph Road was battled by Cowichan Bay firefighters backed by Mill bay and Duncan hall's tanker trucks, Cow Bay's chief Ken Bulcock said of the 11:55 p.m. fire during which a propane-tank fuel-line broke.
"We heard the noise of it leaking and turned it off," Bulcock said of the 500-gallon tank that could have done serious damage had it blown.
Still the three-bedroom, insured home was destroyed.
"The roof was inside the house when we got there," he said, noting no injuries though a family cat may have died in the fire.
"It's believed the fire started outside in the back-porch area."
Photographer Andrew Leong stayed way back.
"It was a long driveway, and there were no hydrants nearby so Duncan and Mill Bay hall's trucks kept filling the (reserve) pool," Leong said
Those tanker rigs were ordered by Cow Bay's deputy-chief, Cam Ferguson, soon after he reached the fully involved inferno scene, said Leong.
Crews fought the fire until about 4 a.m.
"The family was home and they all got out safely, but ambulances were standing by," the Leader's lensman said of the fire that "flattened" the home.
The family's name hasn't been released but Bulcock believed those folks are staying with neighbours or family.
They also got assistance from Cowichan Valley Regional District's emergency program.
The fire's cause was under investigation at press time Friday.
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