Fire in Port Moody causes power outage for dozens of homes, businesses
Posted June 13, 2021 10:04 am.
Last Updated June 13, 2021 3:38 pm.
PORT MOODY (NEWS 1130) — It’s still not clear what caused Sunday morning’s fire in Port Moody, but the large fire in a residential area is the reason power has been knocked out for over a hundred homes and businesses.
The fire was reported at a structure around 3 a.m. near the intersection of Moody and Henry Street.
“We discovered two homes that were under construction fully involved — meaning that fire was extending from basically all aspects of those two homes. So our staff immediately went into what we refer to as a ‘defensive firefighting mode’ and look to protect the surrounding building exposures, including other residences in the area,” Fire Chief Ron Coulson says.
Both homes were under construction “and appear to be a total loss” Coulson says but he says luckily, there were no injuries to civilians or to firefighters.
“The homes were at the point of just prior to lock up. So they were installing windows and doors and putting on some siding, but they weren’t completely secure. And there was the interior finishings hadn’t begun yet. So they were sort of at the midpoint of construction.”
Because of the degree of damage to both buildings, the fire chief says it will be difficult to determine the exact cause.
While the fire is out, he adds crews will remain on the scene since the buildings are unstable. The fire is still under investigation.
“So we have to wait until an engineer determines if they need to come down or not. And at that point, we know we’ll put up the rest of those hotspots and, and wrap this scene up,” Coulson explains.
BC Hydro is working to replace a damaged pole to return power back to affected customers in the area.
– With files from Bethlehem Mariam
