In the deep recesses of her mind she could hear the faint "beep, beep, beep" of what she thought was a digital alarm clock going off in the next room.
It turned out that faint sound was the fire alarm at Boardwalk Apartments on Killoren Crescent, which was ablaze at about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 22.
Jeanette McMillan from Victoria was an overnight guest in a family member’s apartment visiting Prince George to share in a family celebration.
McMillan was in the part of the apartment complex near where the fire originated.
Her family member, who wishes to remain anonymous, came and pounded on the bedroom door and said ‘there’s a fire!’
“We got out of bed and he said ‘you don’t have time to get anything just get out, get out!’” McMillan recalled.
“Then he ran out and started pounding on everybody else’s door along the hallway and then I didn’t even put clothes on. I just had my bedroom slippers and my coat and grabbed my purse and we went out,” McMillan said.
“My husband forgot his wallet. The smoke wasn’t bad in the apartment but when we opened the door the smoke just came pouring in. In the first few steps in the hallway we could at least still see each other and it was clear that we were the most able-bodied people out there and the people from the other side of the hall were a lot more disabled than us and they were older and stumbling around because we weren’t sure which way to go because the one direction was looking more clear but was a lot longer way to go than the stairwell on the south side of the building from where we eventually escaped.”
They headed toward that stairwell. “And kind of just put our arms out and made sure everyone went with us instead of going back into their apartments,” she said.
“We kept pounding on doors because there were still a few doors where nobody had come out yet. Before we even got to the stairwell the smoke was so thick we couldn’t even see a couple of feet in front of us. Everyone just stumbled into the stairwell and people needed help to get down the stairs and it was four flights of slowly going down the stairs when we wanted to run down. Then we burst out the bottom and smoke just came pouring out after us.”
McMillan said they didn't realize how advanced the fire was until they got to the front of the building as they had escaped from the side.
“The front was all in flames," McMillan said.
"The flames were licking up the balcony and up the walls to the roof. It was blazing and the fire department hadn’t arrived yet. They got there imminently but you know when you are in an emergency like that it seemed like a long time before they came.”
And it was that quick that neighbours came to help.
McMillan was helped by one woman with young children and there were other neighbours already bringing out chairs and blankets for the victims as they escaped the blaze.
“They were all looking after us,” McMillan said.
“There was a young couple whose house was on the corner and I don’t know how they got out and back so fast but they had gone out and brought back McDonald’s tea and coffee and breakfasts,” McMillan said. “And I think the woman had a young baby and here she is looking after everybody else while I am sure she was worrying about her own place catching on fire.”
As a result of the ordeal, McMillan and her family members were affected by smoke inhalation.
“We were hoarse and our eyes were stinging for a couple of days,” she said.
McMillan lost her cellphone, clothes and shoes, glasses, medications and the key fob for their vehicle, which cost $600 to replace. They had special-occasion clothing for the family celebration and suitcases to carry it all in and all that was lost, too.
But the worst loss was the most sentimental — a special album that contained photos and information about the family’s history dating back to the 1700s.
“And there are no copies of some of those photos,” McMillan said.
“I’m not sure what else to say other than the neighbours were amazing, the firefighters were amazing, the police were great, not letting anyone go near the back as things were falling off the building, for crying out loud,” McMillan said.
“They were just trying to make it safe for everybody. There was one person who saved lots of people’s lives. There were so many unsung heroes of the day making a bad situation better somehow.”
The Boardwalk Apartments building has been deemed uninhabitable and those residents who still have apartments that can be safely accessed will have three-hour windows to get as much out of their units as possible in the coming days, according to reports by residents who attended a meeting on Thursday, May 29.
There has been a gofundme page started on behalf of the residents. To donate visit www.gofundme.com/f/support-killoren-boardwalk-fire-families.
