A trip from Prince Rupert to Prince George had an unexpected twist for a man over the weekend.
Allan Gilliard was going home after visiting family on the coast when he decided to stop at the Hazelton Farmers Market on Sunday near noon.
“While I was heading back to the car, I saw some smoke coming out from behind the church and was watching it for a bit because I didn’t know if they had a bon fire going or something like that,” he added.
After the fire started to change colour, Gilyard noticed a person run out of the church with a phone in his ear and a concerned look which prompted him to investigate.
That prompted him to investigate and discover a fire between the main chapel and an addition.
“That whole corner was on fire, and it was going up into the space between the ceiling and the roof,” Gilyard said.
He also recalled someone bucketing puddles to extinguish the fire before going inside to find something that could move water.
In doing so, Gilyard found a fire extinguisher and emptied it onto the blaze.
“Then an older lady came out one of the side doors with a larger fire extinguisher, handed it to me, and emptied it trying to get it into the space between the ceiling and the roof.”
He went back into the church and found a third extinguisher to use if the fire had entered the building but didn’t use it before fire crews arrived.
With files: Brendan Pawliw – My PG Now
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