Police in Langley have “no doubt” that lives were saved thanks to a combined effort from first responders after massive flames engulfed two apartment buildings early Sunday.
It's a fire investigators have deemed suspicious.
Crews arrived to the fully involved blaze at an empty condo building under construction in the 22000-block of Fraser Highway, in Langley’s Murrayville neighbourhood, just before 4 a.m.
Flames could be seen shooting up to an estimated 50-feet into the air, and the intense fire quickly spread to a neighbouring complex which had to be evacuated.
“The first priority was protecting the townhouse complex because there was nothing to save in the construction site by the time we got here,” said Langley Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Ferguson.
Some residents inside the inhabited buildings were woken up by fire alarms, and rushed to their balconies to witness the large blaze.
“I woke up to finding my whole apartment in an orange glow, my son waking up and running out to the balcony, and that’s where we got our first glimpse of it,” said Jeremy Steinart. “You could feel the heat right on your face. That’s how close we were.”
Officers on scene asked all available first responders to bang on doors in the inhabited buildings, where police say many elderly people were living.
“Regardless of the fact that a fire alarm was sounding in these buildings, nobody was evacuating their residence,” RCMP said in a statement.
Forty officers from Surrey RCMP, Abbotsford Police, the Integrated Road Safety Unit and Police Dog Services all joined in the evacuation effort, making sure residents escaped the burning buildings.
About 150 people were displaced by the blaze and taken to a nearby recreation centre, where Personal Disaster Assistance helped make arrangements for shelter.
Three people in total – a civilian, a Mountie and a firefighter – were all taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
While most exposures of the building were saved, officials said most suites would remain off-limits to residents Sunday night.
Some residents will be allowed back into their suites to retrieve personal belongings and vehicles, but the building will need to undergo an inspection before they can return.
Firefighters have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but aren’t ruling out arson.
“We hope they’ll be able to find something in the surveillance videos, but at this point in time we have no idea,” Ferguson said.
