Firefighters were kept busy Wednesday by blazes at two homes in Surrey.
First, three people were displaced as a fire destroyed part of a Surrey townhouse in the early afternoon.
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Assistant Chief Geoff McIntyre with Surrey Fire Services says crews arrived at the three-storey home on 121 Street near 64 Avenue around 12:30 p.m.
“This fire was escalated to a second alarm response, which brought eight apparatus and a total of 24 firefighters to the scene,” said McIntyre, adding that all occupants had made it out of the home by the time the crew arrived.
Paramedics reportedly treated one person for smoke inhalation.
McIntyre says the damage was contained to a single unit, where the residents would not be able to return home.
A member of the displaced residents’ family has started a fundraiser to support the victims.
That night, crews were called to a second residential fire in the city.
McIntyre says firefighters arrived at 128 Street near 96 Avenue around 10 p.m., to find “smoke and flames showing from the ground floor of a three level apartment building.”
Once again, crews contained the fire to a single unit, and once again, paramedics treated one person.
The assistant chief confirmed “the occupant of the unit involved was displaced.”
Surrey Police Service Sgt. Tige Pollock tells 1130 NewsRadio this blaze appears to have been accidental and is not suspicious.
The causes of both fires are under investigation.
He says the city’s emergency social services provides short-term alternate accommodations for fire victims without an alternative.
—With files from David Nadalini
