No injuries after large barn fire in Abbotsford

A large fire in a barn near Abbotsford International Airport sent a plume of smoke billowing into the air Monday morning.

Crews were called to the scene on King Road near Clearbrook Road around 7:30 a.m. and arrived to find a column of smoke rising from the building, according to Tom Dodd, assistant chief in training for Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service.

Dodd said the 400-foot barn previously housed chickens, but was empty when the blaze broke out.

"It was a large building," Dodd said. "Some of the challenges we had were, obviously, water supply. We did have to relay pump from quite a ways down the street to get two aerial devices supplied with water so we could get this thing under control."

He said he expected that crews would be on scene dealing with hot spots for the rest of the day, adding that it was too early to say what caused the fire.

The Abbotsford Police Department said on Twitter that King Road had been closed in both directions between Clearbrook Road and Columbia Street due to the fire.

Dodd said no one was injured during the blaze, though one firefighter was checked out by B.C. Emergency Health Services at the scene.

"Crews did an outstanding job protecting exposures," Dodd said. "We do have another barn the same size, parallel and fairly close to this structure, so crews did an outstanding job protecting that barn and the rest of the structures on the property."