One dead, one seriously injured in Langley house fire
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2019 21:05:56 +0000
One man died and a woman was seriously injured in a Langley house fire early Thursday morning.
Township of Langley Deputy Fire Chief Monty Armstrong told Postmedia News that firefighters were called at 2:15 a.m. to the fire in a two-storey home on the 20600-block of 74B Avenue in Willoughby.
Armstrong said that when firefighters arrived the home was completely ablaze and there was no way for firefighters to get inside.
He said there were four occupants outside the home, and one who died inside.
Resident James Wilson said the house had five rooms, with each tenant renting one of the rooms.
Wilson, who was not in the home when the fire broke out, said he was called by one of the other renters and arrived to find his girlfriend has been seriously injured after jumping out of the second-floor window.
“Then I heard Willy didn’t make it,” Wilson said.
Willy was another tenant who Wilson said was 61 and had lived in the home for several years.
According to Wilson, the fire broke-out near Willy’s room and he ran to the other rooms to warn his co-tenants. Willy then ran back to his room, where there were several oxygen bottles.
“Willy alerted everybody and then ran back to his room and there were four explosions,” Wilson said. “He sacrificed his own life. He’s a hero.”
Armstrong said he could not confirm whether there had been any explosions. He said the cause of the fire was unknown at this time.
Wilson said that he had lost most of his possessions and was unsure where he would be sleeping in Thursday night.