The cause of a blaze that demolished a recycling truck Tuesday morning at a gas station in west Maple Ridge hasn’t yet been identified, said Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue chief Howard Exner.
Firefighters responded to call on Dewdney Trunk Road near Maple Meadows Way, after reports of a huge plume of smoke.
The fire started in the cab of the truck but its cause isn’t known, said Exner Wednesday.
“It was a safe distance away from the building,” Exner said.
The fire then burned its way back to the cargo area setting some recycled cardboard on fire. “So we had to cut a hole in the side of the truck to be able to pull the cardboard out and put the fire out,” he said.
He added that the nearby Tim Horton’s restaurant was evacuated not because of a threat of fire but because the fire department didn’t want smoke to enter the building’s air system.
Exner said that the underground fuel tanks were never at risk because they’re buried too deep.
There were no injuries.
pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter