A townhouse fire early Monday morning in Pitt Meadows has been deemed suspicious.
An investigation by the Pitt Meadows fire department determined that there were multiple set points on an Osprey Village townhouse and a nearby BMW.
“There’s no ignition source that could be found and the vehicle and the house were separated from each other so it’s unlikely that the fire spread from one area to the next,” said Pitt Meadows fire chief Mike Larsson.
READ MORE: Garden hoses used to douse townhouse fire in Pitt Meadows
On Monday, Aug. 3, at 1 a.m., Pitt Meadows Fire and Rescue were called to a townhouse fire along Barnston View Road.
Neighbourhood residents were able to knock down the fire using garden hoses, said Larsson, and had a majority of the fire out by the time fire crews arrived on scene.
Fire crews knocked on the door of the residence and when nobody answered gained access to the home to make sure there were no humans or pets inside.
Nobody was home, said Larsson, but a sprinkler had been activated inside.
Damage was limited to the exterior siding of the unit and a door, along with minor damage to the car which was parked nearby, noted the fire chief.
The RCMP had the vehicle towed from the scene, he added.
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Larsson was not sure if the family would be able to return to the house right away, but said restoration crews arrived early on site.
This is the second time the fire department has been to that residence for a car fire.
The first car fire took place at the end of February, said Larsson.
Ridge Meadows RCMP confirmed that they are investigating a suspicious fire that occurred on Aug. 3, at 12:45 a.m. in the 10900 block of Barnston View Road.
Pitt Meadows fire requested police assistance with a vehicle and small structure fire, explained Cst. Julie Klaussner with the Ridge Meadows RCMP.
“This is still an ongoing police investigation with the support of the findings from the Pitt Meadows fire department,” Klaussner noted.
Klaussner also completed a search for the exact same residence in police files and said she did not find any file related to a previous fire.
However, she said, she could look into it further with more information as police “experience approximately 100 files per 24 hour period” and there are roughly 3000 files for the month of February.
Ariane Jaschke, president of the Osprey Village Strata Council, said the strata is awaiting results from the police investigation.
She said it is the second incident involving the residence, and the family involved have no idea why it would happen to them.
Jaschke confirmed the family was not home at the time of the incident.
“The neighbours are very worried, and the whole neighbourhood is full of kids,” said Jaschke.
She noted there was a group of four or five residents who fought the fire, and had it under control before the fire department arrived.
“It could have been a lot worse,” she said.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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