1 man burned in Victoria propane tank explosion and tent fire

The Victoria Fire Department says a mansuffered burns tohis hands, arms and head when a group of tents caught on fire overnight into Thursday.

Crews were called to an encampment opposite the Rock Bay Landing supportive housing complex at 535 Ellice St. after reports of a propane tank explosion inside one of the tents.

When they arrived, thefire had spread to five or six tents, and the pallets under the tentswere also burning. The fire was extinguished quickly.

The manwas attended to by the B.C. Ambulance Service but there is no update on his condition.

The fire department says cleaning up the fire took considerable time because of a substantial amount of debris.

Vancouver fire

On the same night in Vancouver, crews put out a rubbish fire that started in the half-open parking garage of theshuttered Deluxe Motel in the 3500-block of Kingsway. No one was injured.

AssistantChief Trevor Connolly said the fire could have been started by people who are homeless.

"Seems like that is the case, that it's people trying to keep warm," said Connolly."Crews were able to extinguish it quickly but there's a lot of damage to the base and concrete pillars of the building."

British Columbia's South Coast is in the grips of a cold snap that saw overnight temperatures dip to 5 C.

An Arctic outflow warning is in effect for Thursday across the region, with freezing winds expected Thursday and Friday.

Environment Canada says wind chill values on the South Coast could dip to between 10 C and 25 C.