Scott Stanfield
Record staff
A 92-year-old man died during a fire that broke out in his home just outside the Comox boundary around 4 a.m. Monday.
The fire occurred at Lazo Road near Butchers Road, where the man lived in a double wide mobile home. The building had been on the site for many years.
“The fire was well involved when we arrived,” Comox Fire Chief Gord Schreiner said. “In fact, neighbours were woken by the sound of the fire. The building was what we call fully involved.”
Firefighters performed an initial attack but couldn’t enter the trailer because the front of the building had collapsed.
“The fire department used a technique called wall breaching, where we breached the side wall of the building — made our own door through the wall — to enter the rear of the building near the bedroom, looking for the gentleman,” Schreiner said. “But unfortunately he wasn’t in the bedroom. Later we found him elsewhere in the home. He had succumbed to injuries from the fire, more than likely.”
Cause of the fire is unknown at this point. The B.C. Coroners Service and RCMP will follow-up with the investigation due to the fatal nature of the incident.