An early morning fire destroyed a New Westminster house where a man had barricaded himself just two weeks earlier.
Gord Denhoed, a platoon captain with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services, said crews were called to a house in the 700-block of Queens Avenue around 2:10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 31. When fire crews arrived at the scene, he said there was “heavy fire involvement” to the house and the garage facing the back alley.
“The house was occupied at the time. However, upon arrival of our crews, it was reported that all occupants were out of the building,” he said. “We ensured, through interviewing the people out front, that everybody had made it out safely.”
Knowing that no one was inside the house at 707 Queens Ave., the fire department embarked on a defensive attack of the fire rather than sending firefighters into the burning building.
“We did not want to put firefighters into the structure for firefighter safety,” Denhoed said. “The fire took a little bit longer to put out because the (fire) involvement. So, we brought in our tower ladder, set it up out front to assist with the defence of attack of the fire.”
According to Denhoed, the fire was “well under control” by about 6 a.m. All totalled, 28 firefighters fought the blaze on what was a cold, rainy night.
“The crews did well and worked really hard through the cold weather,” he said. “We brought in extra crews from off shift... to assist our on-duty crews with putting on the fire.”
Denhoed said the house was destroyed in the fire.
“The cause, at this point, it's too early to say,” he said. “It's under investigation.”
One area resident told the Record they jumped out of bed after hearing what sounded like an explosion. Looking outside, they saw the fire and called 911.
Deputy fire Chief Brad Davie said Emergency Support Services is assisting one person who was displaced by the fire and trying to determine if others need its services.
A small apartment building is located on the west side of the house while a single-family home is on the east side.
“When we get a fire of that size and that heavy (fire) involvement, of course, we want to put the fire out, but one of our top priorities is to protect what we call the exposures — that would be the property on each side of the of the house that was on fire, to ensure that the fire didn't spread,” Denhoed said. “The crews did a good job of doing that.”
At its peak, flames could be seen shooting out of the home. Heavy smoke filled the neighbourhood.
While several area residents reported that the burning house smelled like plastic, Denhoed said that’s not unusual.
“All house fires have that certain plasticky smell,” he said. “There are so many different products in the house, whether they're couches or plastics from television sets. Everything that's in there has a different odour when it burns. It's not necessarily all wood; there's plastics and there's fabrics that all contribute to that different smell of a house fire. But there was nothing for us to believe that there's anything different about this fire by the way it smelled.”
House known to neighbours
New Westminster Police Department and New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services remained at the scene later Friday morning.
“Police are currently on scene,” Denhoed told the Record. “There are firefighters on scene at this point just ensuring that there aren't any flare-ups.”
NWPD Staff Sgt. Andrew Leaver said the police department assisted its partners at New Westminster Fire and Rescue Service with road closures while they responded to the fire. Those road closures have since been lifted.
“A small number of people who were displaced by the smoke and fire were provided food and aid at the police department,” he said.
Area residents are familiar with the house — called “the green house” by some neighbours, as it was the scene of a previous garage fire and a recent police standoff.
Leaver confirmed police attended the residence on Jan. 18 after a man barricaded himself in the house.
That incident began after a police officer, attending the area for an unrelated call around 2 a.m., saw a suspect with a firearm leave the house. The NWPD said the suspect then went back into the house and refused to come out, so the Lower Mainland District Emergency Response Team was called in to assist with the arrest; the suspect was located in the house at around 9 a.m.
The New Westminster Police Department later told the Record police had located “multiple” replica firearms in the residence.
