Fire guts apartment building in Prince George, displaces at least 60 residents [Video]

A large apartment fire near D.P. Todd Secondary School in Prince George, B.C., has displaced at least 60 people.

The blaze broke out shortly before 6 a.m. PT Thursday and quickly engulfed the top floor of the three-storey building, sending a thick plume of black smoke into the sky as the apartment’s roof collapsed and portions of the structure fell to the ground in the residential Heritage neighbourhood near 5th Avenue.

Resident Deb Townsend said she and other residents simply ran out with “what they had on their backs.”

“Shoes, coats, that was it,” she said.

Assistant fire chief Brian Valentine said they were called to the scene at about 5:40 a.m. and had evacuated roughly 50 people. The city later confirmed no one was left inside and said about 60 people had been displaced and accessed emergency supports.

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