Scene earlier today at Prince George Chateau -photo 250News

Prince George, B.C.-  About 150 residents of the Prince George Chateau  retirement  complex  off Tabor Boulevard in Prince George, are  being  moved back into the building which was the scene of a small fire  this morning.

Brad Beckett, Deputy Director of the City of Prince George’s  Evacuation Support Program says the  residents  who were moved to the buses this morning are  being  moved  to the dining room of the complex “That is the safest place for them right now,  they have access to food and their meds.”

Beckett  says the  Prince George Fire Rescue department along with Northern Health   are  assessing the building for  CO₂  levels .  He says that evaluation should be complete within  the next few hours.   Because the building was not at full occupancy,   it is possible some  of the displaced  residents  could  find accommodation in one of the vacant units once  beds have been  added to the units.

Beckett says  if  some residents are not able to return to their suites because of  smoke  or  CO₂ levels,  the City would then follow its normal  protocols  and put those  residents up in a hotel for 72 hours.

“We did have a secondary site to move these people too if  it was needed” says Beckett, “But we decided to hold off,  and I think we made the right decision.”

Three people had been taken to hospital for treatment of  smoke inhalation following the fire which  broke out in a suite  in the west wing of the complex.

Fire Fighters  from all four  firehalls in Prince George, BC Ambulance and the RCMP responded to the  fire  that was reported   around 9:45 this morning.

The facility’s sprinkler system  was activated in the suite  where the fire started, and  doused the flames.