Late-night Surrey fire damages multiple businesses

It appears that at least three businesses have been badly damaged after a late-night fire in Surrey on Wednesday.

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The Surrey Fire Service tells 1130 NewsRadio that crews were called to the strip mall along 135A Street, right near 106 Street behind King George Boulevard, in the city’s Whalley neighbourhood just before 10:50 p.m.

“Upon arrival, crews were met with heavy smoke and flame from the rear corner of the building, and upgraded it to a commercial structure fire,” Acting Assistant Chief Kevin Coplin said.

“The fire presented tactical challenges as it was fueled by a damaged gas line. As a result, crews performed a defensive attack until the gas supply was shut off. Once the gas was shut off, crews made fast progress in extinguishing the fire.”

Coplin adds that seven fire trucks and 24 firefighters tackled the blaze. Reports suggest the firefighters got control of the blaze just after midnight.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined Coplin says, and it is currently under investigation.

In a statement, the Surrey Police Service says it too was called to the area around 10:50 p.m.

“There have been no reported injuries and we will be holding the scene until it’s safe for a fire inspector to investigate,” the SPS says.

Neighbour Maureen Price tells CityNews she saw the entire thing play out from her window.

“I was sitting watching TV on my couch, my blinds were drawn. They’re semi-opaque, so I couldn’t see everything. It’s a common area to hear police cars and fire trucks, so I know of ignored it, then I noticed that there was a lot of lights out here, so I stepped out onto my patio,” she explained.

“There was about six fire trucks and about eight police cars blocking off roads. There was a lot of smoke billowing out from both ends of the building, as high as the Grand which is 46 storeys, all the way over to Gateway Station — just thick, black smoke billowing out,” Price described.

She says the fire was smouldering until about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, “then the fire trucks and firemen started to tear down some of the hanging material.”

“I’ve lived in the area for two years, so it was quite a shock to see it. I’m just so glad that the firefighters are able to limit it to just the one building,” she said.

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With files from Anthony Atanasov and CityNews.