Man in critical condition after Victoria highrise apartment fire

A man who was rescued from a highrise balcony after a fire broke out in a downtown Victoria apartment Friday morning is in hospital in critical condition.

Heavy smoke could be seen coming from an upper floor unit of the View Towers building at the corner of Quadra and View streets.

Firefighters used a ladder truck to retrieve the man from the balcony and brought him to the ground, where he was taken into an ambulance.

The man suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation and was in critical condition on Friday afternoon, according to the Victoria Fire Department.

"Him and I have been neighbours for a while," said Tobias Jones, who said he lives in the ninth-floor unit next to where the fire started.

The resident said he left his apartment for less than an hour and came back to see smoke pouring from the building.

"Right now there's going to be a lot of water damage and a lot of smoke damage," Jones said.

Quadra Street was closed to vehicle traffic Friday as emergency crews responded to the scene.