Quick work by local firefighters saved a two-storey house in the Edmonds area from complete destruction Tuesday evening, according to the Burnaby Fire Department.
“I thought we were going to lose the whole structure,” assistant fire Chief Brian Kirk told the NOW. “The guys did a really good job.”
Crews were called to 7866 15th Ave. at about 5:50 p.m.
Seeing dark smoke billowing from the area even before their arrival, they called for more trucks right away.
“We threw lots of truck companies at it,” Kirk said.
One of the people who called 911 was neighbour Lata Patel, who lives across the backyard from the house.
“I was just cooking and I looked over and saw a lot of smoke,” she told the NOW.
By the time she called 911 and got everyone out of her own house, she said she could see flames coming from the back of the burning building.
No one was injured in the blaze, according to Kirk, but the large fire at the back of the house was complicated by the presence of a number of propane tanks.
“There was one propane tank that was actually involved. It was venting, so it was feeding the fire. Once the valve is melted, you can’t really shut it off,” Kirk said.
Before crews were able to knock it down, the fire penetrated into the first floor ceiling and the second floor roof.
Firefighters don’t know what caused the blaze, but investigators were expected to be on scene Wednesday.
