Flames and smoke poured out of a supportive modular housing complex at 250 Terminal Ave. in Nanaimo early Monday evening, but no one was injured.
Firefighters were on the scene within five minutes of the alarm, Chief Karen Fry said. Everyone was evacuated.
The fire appeared to have started in one unit and the cause is being investigated, she said.
B.C. Housing and the society operating the facility are helping the 20 people who were displaced. The fire affected only one block of the three blocks of units. Other tenants were not displaced.
