Two Burnaby families will likely be out of their homes for some time, following an intense fire that broke out at a townhouse complex over the weekend.
Fire crews were called to the 6000 block of Balmoral Street just after 8:30 a.m. Sunday to a blaze burning in the top-floor unit of a townhouse.
Burnaby assistant fire chief David Graystone noted crews made it to the scene within four minutes, but by then, flames were already shooting out of the window.
He said firefighters were able to knock down the fire and protect the surrounding structures in the townhouse complex.
However, by that time, the fire had done its damage.
“The top floor is completely destroyed,” Graystone told the NOW. “It has been gutted, the fire was very intense, and it destroyed everything in there. It’s completely burnt.”
At one point, the department had 10 trucks and 30 firefighters fighting the blaze. Smoke could also be seen from all around the area.
One woman who was in the unit at the time made it out safely with one dog, but a second dog didn’t make it out and died inside. No one else was injured.
Graystone said it was fortunate the woman didn’t run back into the burning unit to get the other pet.
“The fire was so intense, you could not go into it,” he said.
By Monday, investigators were on scene trying to figure out exactly what started the fire. Graystone said there’s nothing to suggest the fire is suspicious at this point.
“We’re not sure what happened,” Graystone said, adding emergency services was on scene to help the displaced residents. “The person who was in it… they got out at the time and that person didn’t report anything suspicion to myself.”
While the top floor was completely destroyed, the bottom floor suffered mostly water damage. There were two couples living on both the top and bottom floors.
