Saturday’s wind storm has kept firefighters and other emergency responders across the Lower Mainland busy, including in Burnaby, where crews responded to a fire in an apartment building early Sunday morning that was likely caused by a lit candle.

Firefighters were called to the building on 10th Avenue near Newcombe Street at roughly 4:40 a.m. When they arrived, flames could be seen filling a ground-floor window.

Remarkably, it was only the contents of the building that caught fire, not the structure itself, according to Burnaby Fire Department assistant chief Bryan Kirk.

“It’s definitely rebuildable, that’s for sure,” Kirk said. “But these folks will be staying in a hotel for the next day or two until they get the power restored here.”

Kirk said the fire was contained to one unit of the building, but firefighters turned off the gas to the complex as a precaution. That plus smoke from the blaze forced the department to evacuate some 16 families from the building. Two people were transported to hospital for smoke inhalation, he said.

Resident Ala Osman said the experience of having a fire in her neighbour’s apartment was scary.

“I was trying to sleep because I had to get up really early this morning, and I heard the noise outside and then I heard the alarm going off, so I went outside to see what was going on,” she said. “I was shaking. It’s the middle of the night. No one wants to be awake or be in any danger at this time.”

Kirk said the fire may have started because a young resident was trying to light a candle.

The call was the 150th the department had responded to in approximately 14 hours, he said. Most of those were for downed wires or building alarms triggered when the power went out.

Given that experience, “hearing it was a candle is not surprising,” Kirk said.

Osman said the power in the building had been out since noon. She and her family were using candles after sunset, but blew them all out before going to bed at 11 p.m.

She said she hopes the power will be restored soon, so that there won’t be more dangerous situations like this Sunday night. For now, the fire served as a good alarm clock for her early morning.

“I’ve still got to wake up early, but it’s fine since I can’t sleep anymore anyway,” she said.