For the second time in less than two weeks, Squamish dealt with a fatal fire Tuesday (April 14).
The call was made to Squamish Fire Rescue at noon that black, acrid smoke was pouring from a second-storey window at the Squamish Manor Senior Citizens Home on Third Avenue.
Minutes later, firefighters were on the scene, and quickly extracted 60-year-old Bruce Quigley from his apartment.
Quigley had suffered serious burns and smoke inhalation, and despite firefighters' attempts to revive him, he died as a result of his injuries.
Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Steve Virgint said the cause of the fire is still being investigated.
However a resident reported that the victim was a smoker and was on oxygen.
He said as he stood outside watching the smoke pour out of the unit, he heard what he believed to be an exploding oxygen container.
He said he believed the black smoke indicated that oxygen tanks were ignited.
Virgint said quick thinking on the part of property caretaker Stan Ward saved the rest of the building, when Ward remembered the building's fire sprinkler system, which had just been installed, was not yet activated.
"He was quick enough and smart enough to go and turn the sprinkler system on, and saved the fire from spreading to a lot more of the complex, which would have been devastating for those people in terms of finding a place to stay if it had burned the top off," said Virgint.
"It was incredible that he did that because it helped us to keep it from spreading.
"Without that type of action we could've lost a lot more suites."
Alarms alerted residents, who had been told a fire drill would take place the following day at noon.
"We were banging on the doors trying to make sure everyone was out," said Virgint.
It took some time to extract all of the tenants, many of whom are wheelchair bound or need assistance to manage stairs.
Approximately 20 residents were evacuated until approximately 4:30 p.m.
