Businesses on Commercial Street in Nanaimo had to be evacuated because of a fire this afternoon.
The fire was in an underground parking structure below the block and was put out quickly by Nanaimo Fire.
Witness Rose says she didn’t believe it was a real fire, until first responders arrived.
“I heard the alarms and stuff, but we didn’t evacuate because this happens a lot when people smoke in the stairwell,” says Rose. “It wasn’t until one of the officers came into our location and said, ‘There’s an actual fire and there is a burnt man in the stairwell’ that we evacuated. When we came out and around they opened up the door to the parkade and pulled him out. There was a lot of smoke and smell.”
The man pulled from the scene is presumed to be unhoused, no word on his condition or if he suffered any serious injuries.
Workers were allowed to return to businesses within a half hour, evacuated just after 2 pm and returned just after 2:30 pm. Some businesses were dealing with lingering smoke when they returned.
No official word yet on the cause of the fire. Updates will be posted as they are received.
