I am going to do something a little different today. Instead of one photo, I am going to post a series of photos. On Monday night, Marie and I were in Downtown Victoria. We had just finished dinner at Pagliacci's on Broad St. near Fort St. and were returning to my car. We passed through the Bay Center and turned down View St. At the corner of View St. and Broad St. is a Monk's Office Supply store. On the other side of it is Trounce Alley. You could see the Trounce Alley entrance through the windows of the Monk store.
As we walked by, I saw flames through the windows of the store. My very first thought was that it was a Christmas display of some sort inside the store. Maybe a fake fireplace. But once I turned my head to look, it was clearly a real fire. We turned around and headed to investigate. There was a pile of cardboard stacked about 4-5 feet tall and flames were roaring about 9-10 feet into the air. I started to pull out my cell phone to dial 911 when i noticed a couple across the street who were already on the phone. I confirmed with them that they were already calling the firemen.
We must have been among the first people on the scene. Marie and I were maybe only 10 feet away from the fire. A few other people had gathered around by now. The fire was mesmerizing but we moved to a safer distance to observe since we didn't know what was burning. Maybe something explosive. Who knows. I guess fire has a hypnotic effect. Everyone was standing so close to the fire and just staring. As we crossed the street, a patrolling police car was coming up the street. Someone stopped them and informed them of the fire.
I also happened to have my camera with me. The following is a documentation of the events from the point that we crossed the street until the fire was contained and the arrival of the media.
20:13:10.2 - One of the two officers from the first police car attempts to control the fire with a fire extinguisher. He only gives the fire one or two small bursts of the extinguisher before stopping.
20:13:22.2 - A second police vehicle arrives. The officers join in with their fire extinguishers. Once again, only a few small bursts of the extinguisher.
20:13:28.8 - The officers finally start giving the fire continuous sprays from the extinguisher. Steam and smoke form and rise into the air.
20:13:43.7 - An officer continues to fight the fire as another looks on.
20:14:08.2 - The police back off. The extinguishers don't appear to be having much effect. By this point, one of the window panes has shattered under the heat. The man on the right in the Skate sweatshirt appears to be an officer. He was the main person fighting the fire in some of the previous photos. Marie says that she saw him come out of the second police car.
20:14:41.1 - The police go at the fire again. This time it seems to be coming under control. The adjacent store fills up with smoke through the shattered window.
20:15:34.7 - The Victoria Fire Department arrives.
20:16:30.0 - The firemen continue to extinguish the fire with their hose.
20:21:03.3 - The fire is extinguished. The firemen inspect the damage. One of them continues to douse the hotspot.
20:22:47.4 - The inspection continues. The police and firemen exchange notes.
20:31:37.4 - With the assistance of security personnel, the authorities open the front door of the store. They set up fans to start airing out the smoke and prevent further smoke damage.
20:32:18.7 - The media arrived within the last few minutes. Two cameramen and two photographers are on scene. Firemen and security personnel look on.
20:32:38.5 - The situation is under control.
I didn't see anything in the newspaper the next day. Not sure what the cause was. But the pile of cardboard looked awfully suspicious. Arson? Maybe. Accident? Maybe. I have never seen that spot used as a homeless shelter before but it's a possibility. Other than that, can't imagine how a 4-5ft high stack of cardboard boxes got there.
