A Hammond resident woke to see flames shooting from the garage roof at his neighbours place on June 9, at 12:15 a.m.
Craig Storey alerted his family, then went to attack the blaze with a garden hose, but quickly saw water was having no effect.
They woke other neighbours of the house, then stood at the road outside their home on 114th Avenue watching the fire, and waiting for Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue to respond – he estimates they were there in just 5-10 minutes.
"It was going to be minutes before our place went up in flames," said Storey.
It did damage their siding and soffits, and the heat was so intense it shattered windows in their cottage suite.
But their property fared much better than their neighbours. The house across from Hammond Park is uninhabitable, with the roof destroyed, and extensive fire damage at the rear of the property.
Six residents were displaced by the fire, and were assisted by emergency social services, said Fire Chief Dave Samson.
Samson said the fire got into the attack space of the older home, and it was difficult to attack the flames.
There were no injuries from the fire, but one firefighter suffered a knee injury when a hose coupling broke, said Samson.
Another neighbour said he noticed the blaze, and as he watched the flames they "took off like a rocket."
"Through this whole area you couldn't see 20 feet. It was solid smoke," he said.
Fire investigators were on scene on Monday morning, trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
