The Terrace fire investigator and Terrace RCMP are on the scene of a suspicious fire that left three families homeless early this morning at Skeena Kalum Housing on Haugland Ave.
The rest of the 38 total number of residents had to leave as the power had to be turned off, said the Terrace fire chief.
“A few families have been displaced. Emergency services have housed them for three days,” said John Klie, adding that nobody was hurt.
Shortly after midnight, Aug. 5, 20 Terrace and Thornhill firefighters arrived to find a housing unit fully engulfed in flames with a big ball of flames coming from the front of the building, said Klie.
“So they were greeted with a pretty big fire,” said Klie.
The roof burned off the three units so they're uninhabitable but can be rebuilt, said Klie.
In those three units, residents lost pretty much everything, he said, adding that two cars parked underneath the units were totally destroyed.
Housing units about 14 feet across the parking lot had their outside vinyl siding melted due to the extreme heat.
The buildings were well-built and the fire separations had been maintained, which kept the blaze from ripping through the rest of the attached complex, said Klie.
The fire began outside, said Klie, adding he couldn't say very much as the blaze was under investigation.
Terrace RCMP is leading the investigation, he added.
Efforts are underway across the community to organize assistance for the families affected by the fire.