Quick action by the Pitt Meadows Fire Department contained a fire on the Katzie First Nations reserve Wednesday afternoon after a blaze broke out in a house on Walter Florence Road.
“We had a working fire of a two-storey residence, a garage fire,” said assistant fire chief Rob Chatton.
“That ended up extending into the house that the garage [carport] was attached to.”
Five trucks and 12 crew members got a quick start on the fire, however.
“We were pretty lucky. We had the fire knocked down in about 20 minutes.
“We hit it hard, we hit it fast. We were able to limit the damage.”
The fire started at 2 p.m. in the carport and Ridge Meadows RCMP are currently investigating how the fire began.
While firefighters saved the house, there was smoke and some fire-related damage to a ground-floor bedroom and the attic.
One wall of a neighbouring house was damaged by the radiant heat from the fire.
Chatton said there were no injuries and everyone got out of the house.
He credited a new program between the fire department and Katzie First Nation, in which the fire department inspects homes and installs smoke alarms.
The home that caught fire had recently been fitted with smoke alarms, which alerted residents inside.
“All three smoke alarms were activated to notify the residents to get out.
“It’s a good program and we’ll continue to do it.”