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A busy week for Burnaby firefighters

A cluster of fires kept Burnaby firefighters busy recently. On Monday, crews were called to 8051 10th Ave. at around 1:40 a.m. for a fire that broke out in a two-storey, single-family home and sent seven people to hospital.

A cluster of fires kept Burnaby firefighters busy recently.

On Monday, crews were called to 8051 10th Ave. at around 1:40 a.m. for a fire that broke out in a two-storey, single-family home and sent seven people to hospital.

Heavy flames and smoke were coming from the first floor at the front of the building when firefighters arrived.

“All seven occupants were out of the house by the time we got there,” assistant fire Chief Barry Mawhinney told the NOW. “Apparently they were alerted by smoke detectors.”

Seven people were taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation, but a 14-week-old kitten was unaccounted for on the morning of the fire.

About thirty firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, but the entire first floor was destroyed and the second storey sustained heavy smoke and fire damage, according Mawhinney.

“The house is uninhabitable,” he said. “They can’t live in it right now.”

The fire department is still investigating, and no cause has yet been determined.

Townhouse fire

On Saturday night, firefighters quickly knocked down a blaze at a townhouse complex at 6813 Prenter St. that could have been much worse, according Mawhinney.

“My biggest fear was it getting into the attic through the soffits and stuff, but the first-in crew did a great job of knocking the thing down and not allowing that to happen because, if it got in there, then it would have been into the whole complex and it would have been trouble,” he said.

Neighbours reported the blaze, which had broken out in the front patio area of the townhouse unit just before 8 p.m., according Mawhinney, and the whole front of the unit was engulfed in flames by the time crews arrived.

“It didn’t really get inside,” Mawhinney said. “There’s a little bit of smoke and water damage to the interior, but most of the fire damage was to the outside of the building.”

The owners weren’t home when the fire broke out.

The fire department is still investigating the blaze.

Furniture blaze

On Friday evening, meanwhile, a used furniture store gutted by fire that morning had to be pulled down because the remaining structure was unsafe.

A large blaze had broken out at QIC New & Used Furniture at 5558 Imperial St. just before 2 a.m. that morning.

The fire had started in a cargo truck parked in a bay behind the building and spread quickly, according to Mawhinney.

“Furniture is pretty good fuel to burn,” he said.

The building was described as a “total loss” and torn down by about 7 p.m.

No one was injured and there was no fire damage to the adjacent buildings.

Investigators are still looking into the exact cause of the fire.