A fire that started early Thursday afternoon has destroyed a house in Maple Ridge.
Crews were called to a home near River Road and Lougheed Highway for a shed fire which quickly spread to a house.
"By the time we arrived on scene, the fire had spread through the grass to the house and burned up in their attic space," said Deputy Fire Chief Howard Exner, with Maple Ridge Fire.
Efforts to battle the blaze were limited by the homeowner's owning guns and ammunition.
"The fire made it to one of their ammunition stores," said Exner. "And we had a number of shells going off. So we had to leave the area from firefighting until we were sure the ammunition was expended."
The home used sawdust for insulation, says Exner, which helped the fire burn through the attic.
Firefighters had initially been concerned about the fire spreading to a neighbouring sawmill but were able to contain the blaze.
