Two people have died and a third person is in intensive care in hospital after an overnight house fire in Victoria , the BC Coroners Service says.

The city's fire department says it got the call just after 4 a.m. PT Saturday and responded to the fire in the 1300-block of Johnson Street.

Fire Capt. Bob Jones said flames were shooting out from the back and front of the house and two vehicles in the driveway were ablaze when firefighters arrived.

"The house is only, literally, 50 feet away from the back of the fire hall," Jones said.

"It really got going quickly and it was windy, and that really helped spread the fire throughout the house."

The victims were a young man and woman and the person who remains in hospital is a female, Jones said, adding it's believed they were all students who rented the house.

One of the people who died was found outside and firefighters located the other in a bedroom, he said.

Jones said there was a party at the house on Friday night and that several out-of-town guests were staying there.

"Our evacuee assistance program has relocated some of them from out of town and put them up in accommodation for the night."

The victims' identities have not yet been made public and the cause of the blaze has not been determined.

A fire official had told reporters at the scene early Saturday that three people had died, but the coroner corrected that Saturday afternoon.

With files from the Canadian Press