Other / Not Specified, Other Business Victoria, BC, Canada – Spontaneous combustion fire in mixed-use building suppressed by sprinkler system May 20, 2015 viking210 The spontaneous combustion of improperly stored or discarded construction materials is suspected in a fire early today in a commercial space on lower Yates Street, reports the Victoria Fire Department. The fire was suppressed by the room’s sprinkler system, according to the fire department. The fire will be ruled accidental and the cause stated as undetermined but the spontaneous combustion of stored or discarded materials remains “a probable cause,” said Victoria Fire Lt.-Insp. Brad Sifert. No one was injured. At 2:14 a.m., Victoria firefighters raced to a fire on the main floor of 524 Yates St., just above Wharf Street. The building, adjacent to Waddington Alley, is commercial on the main floor with condominiums above. The office space was under renovation, with the new owner scheduled to occupy the space in about a week, according to Battalion Chief Dave Bicknell. The floor was being finished with a highly flammable drying oil and it is likely that the fire was the result of spontaneous combustion from the disposal of these materials, Sifert said. Fire crews arrived to find smoke in the commercial space. Firefighters traced the blaze to a small smouldering pile of construction materials and waste including discarded window dressing. “I couldn’t find anything but the garbage,” Sifert said. Sifert interviewed two labourers who had been working on the floor until about 3 p.m. Monday. As part of their normal protocol, the workers said they put the oil-soaked rags in water in pails outside the building. “I can’t rule it out just based on what they’re saying,” Sifert said. “A rag could have been left in there.” Fire crews used a hose line to completely extinguish the fire, which was contained to a one-metre-square area on the floor.
