Multiple Township of Langley firefighters were called to the scene of a residential structure fire in the 21700-block of Telegraph Trail just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2. A second alarm was issued a few minutes later the initial call out to get more resources to the scene.
Deputy fire chief Russ Jenkins said crews arrived to find smoke and flames showing from the second storey of the two-storey home. They made a fast-attack to knock down the fire and called in additional support.
"It's looking like the flames rolled up into the soffit, and it got into the attic space," he said.
Police blocked off 216 Street from just north of Highway 1 as far as 88th Avenue to prevent motorists from driving over fire hoses. The fire department hooked up a hose at 216 Street and ran it to the scene almost a kilometre away. As well, crews were ready to do water shuttling if required.
"There were four people and some pets in the house at the time," Jenkins said.
In all, there were seven fire trucks as well as a support truck on scene, with about 20 firefighters. Jenkins said a fire investigator was on the way to the scene by mid-afternoon.
"They think they've got the fire knocked down now," he said just after 2 p.m. "But we're gonna check for hot spots [and do mop up before leaving the scene to the investigator]."
Just after being dispatched to the house fire, the department responded to a two-vehicle crash on the Trans-Canada Highway at about 248th Street, he added. A female patient sustained injuries and was being helped by ambulance personnel.
When the fire department is busy with multiple call-outs or a situation requiring lots of personnel, firefighters are shifted around to other firehalls to ensure neighbourhoods have adequate coverage.
Telegraph Trail and area roadways were reopened by about 3:50 p.m.