When the fire alarm went off in Igor Toledo's Burnaby apartment building at 12:30 a.m., he ignored it until he heard a loud banging on his door.
Someone yelled there was a fire, and black smoke was already pouring into the first-floor hallway when he looked out.
But it wasn't until Toledo got his wife and two young children out of the building and around to the front of the three-storey Jersey Avenue lowrise that they understood how serious the situation was.
Massive Fire Engulfs Residential Building at Jersey St & Kingsway
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"We were able to see the fire coming out of the building, and that's when we realized that things were really bad," Toledo said. "It was blowing out super strong, out of the windows and everywhere."
Firefighters were called to the apartment building at 5715 Jersey Ave. at about 12:30 a.m., according to deputy fire Chief Ian Hetherington.
"The main body of fire on first arrival was near the lobby and travelling into the structure, up the walls," he told the Burnaby NOW at the scene.
The third-alarm fire prompted a big response, with 15 trucks and 50 firefighters.
"We were really concerned that the fire was going to travel through the building," Hetherington said.
He said the age and design of the wood-frame structure, with lots of "void spaces" for flames to travel through unseen made the blaze "difficult."
As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, the smell of smoke hung in the air in the area north of Central Park, and firefighters on ladder trucks were still dousing hot spots.
Hetherington said two people were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and the fire is under investigation.
Toledo said there was a rumour two men had thrown something into the lobby before the fire broke out, but Hetherington said he couldn’t comment.
Toledo was at the scene at about 9 a.m. Tuesday trying to get information about the state of his apartment.
"I'm devastated," he said.
He said his wife and children were taken to a nearby community centre by bus.
All 47 units of the building were evacuated, and 68 residents from 20 units have sought support and are being connected with resources and lodging through emergency support services, according to City of Burnaby public affairs officer Cole Wagner.
He said the situation was "still ongoing" as of Tuesday afternoon.
Burnaby RCMP is investigating the blaze as a possible arson.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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