It was all hands on deck for the Burnaby Fire Department as crews battled two separate fires Tuesday morning.
The first fire started around 3 a.m. in a vacant business at Kingsway and 13th Ave. and spread to a second business before crews got control of the blaze.
Burnaby assistant fire chief Bryan Kirk noted a nearby townhome had minor damage, but firefighters were able to stop the blaze from getting into the residential structure.
An hour later, a second fire broke out at a home on the corner of Government Road and Burnlake Drive.
In that case, Kirk said the structure was a “hoarder’s home” that firefighters couldn’t access to fight because of the clutter.
By daylight, the fires were pretty much out, but crews were still dealing with a few hotspots.
There were no injuries reported at either fire, and the causes of both blazes are under investigation.
The two two-alarm fires also left the department short staffed.
Kirk explained the department needed to call in off-duty members to help fight the fires, but they didn’t need any aid from other communities.
“We were spread pretty thin there that’s for sure, in my 34 years that’s probably the busiest night I’ve heard in a while,” he told the NOW.
