Family displaced after fire erupts at Surrey home

Vancouver -

At least one family is homeless following a house fire that spread to a neighbouring home in Surrey Friday afternoon.

Crews were called to the blaze at a house on 132A Street at 106 Avenue around 3:30 p.m.

Bill Pigott lives across the street from the house. He said the fire was so large, he could feel intense heat from his front door.

“I was terrified,” he said. “Absolutely terrified.”

Pigott believes the fire started in the carport. Within a few minutes, Pigott said, the front of the two-storey home was fully engulfed in flames.

“One of my roommates saw someone jump out one of the top windows,” he said. “They were on the ground here for a while, saying help me.”

Another neighbour, who gave his name as Joe and declined to give a last name, says multiple people were inside the house when the fire broke out.

“I saw one of the people who lived there,” he said. “She was running around with a little fire extinguisher, and then she just ran I haven’t seen her since.”

The Surrey Fire Service confirms no one was injured in the blaze. More than 30 firefighters battled the fire, which spread to the house next door, scorching its side and roof. The family living there was not home when the fire broke out, but tells CTV News the damage to their home is so extensive fire officials have not yet allowed them to go inside. At this point, they don’t know if their house will be salvageable.

On top of the raging flames, fire crews had another hazard to deal with.

“They had live power lines down between the two houses,” said Deputy Chief John Lehmann of the Surrey Fire Service.

“They dealt with that by treating it as two separate fires, with crews staying in their own areas.”

Lehmann said BC Hydro quickly shut off the electricity. Neighbours said they were without power for approximately 90 minutes.

As for the residents of the house where the fire broke out, Pigott said he has not seen them return to the scene.

“If I had to guess I’d say they were dealing drugs out of that house. Because there was a lot of traffic all night long,” Pigott said.

Surrey RCMP said Friday there was some kind of “disturbance” at the house on Friday afternoon, but did not provide details beyond that. Fire officials continue investigating. There’s no official word on what sparked the blaze.

“I’m a little worried that it could happen to us,” said Pigott. “You don’t know if it was old electronics or if somebody caused the fire.”