A barking dog alerted residents Friday night of a fire in their Vancouver apartment, enabling them to escape the flames.
Firefighters were called to the apartment at 10:30 p.m. on 3222 Edgewood Drive, finding the residents outside the building after they had reentered the burning structure and extinguished some of the fire on their own, said firefighter and paramedic Pete Adams, a public information officer for the Vancouver Fire Department.
Adams said crews entered the building, extinguishing remaining hot spots.
A woman who reentered the building was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, and taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment, Adams said.
While no one was seriously injured, Adams said the residents were lucky. “Never go back into a burning building,” he said. “(Fire) spreads so quickly. It’s not the heat, it’s the smoke” that often leads to injuries or death. “Smoke from fire is highly toxic and can be deadly.”
