No injuries after barge fire in Surrey

Heavy, thick smoke wafted through New Westminster and Surrey late Thursday night into Friday morning following a two-alarm fire.

Crews tell 1130 NewsRadio that they were called to a barge that had gone up in flames on Musqueam Drive, which is on the Surrey side near the stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge.

Radius Recycling, a scrap recycling company in the vicinity, says that the fire broke out at one of its recycling facilities.

“Surrey Fire Services (SFS) responded promptly, and the fire was fully extinguished this morning,” company spokesperson Eric Potashner told CityNews.

Deputy Chief of Infrastructure and IT at SFS, Greg McRobbie, says crews reacted quickly once they got to the scene.

“Fire crews established operations. They deployed aerial apparatus to combat the fire and actively engaged in fire suppression efforts for a few hours. There were a total of 22 suppression staff who were on scene.”

Luckily, no one was hurt.

“The cause of the fire is still undetermined at this time,” he adds, pointing out that the terrible smell is due to the burning metal on the barge.

McRobbie expects crews to be on scene for much of the day.

The Surrey Police Service (SPS) confirms they were also called out last night, but they’re not part of the investigation because it wasn’t deemed to be suspicious.

The Canadian Coast Guard says that no hydrocarbons have been detected in the water as a result of the fire. However, whether other pollutions have reached the Fraser River can not be ruled out yet.

CityNews has reached out to Environment Canada and the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office for more information.