Delta fire crews are battling a huge greenhouse fire in East Delta this morning.
Huge clouds of smoke could be seen from across the Lower Mainland.
The fire is in the 10,000 block of Hornby Drive.
Delta police noted the smoke coming from the area at roughly 7:30 a.m. Sunday and Delta fire was dispatched at roughly the same time, said DPD spokesperson Cris Leykauf.
“The fire is massive and Delta fire department has multiple units on scene,” Leykauf told the Optimist. “There is no one reported inside the structure and no reported injuries.
Deputy fire Chief Guy McKintuck told the Optimist in an update just after 9 a.m. that once firefighters arrived on scene, the call was changed from a first alarm to a second alarm, so seven apparatus are on scene.
“There are approximately 30 firefighters at the scene,” said McKintuck. “It was reported that the area of origin was a shipping/receiving area of the greenhouse. It is not believed at this time that there are any chemicals or fertilizers involved in this fire. The main contents burning are cardboard, a diesel generator and the structure itself. Metro Vancouver is also monitoring the air quality in the area.”
He said a fire investigation team is on scene and will start their investigation as soon as it is safe to do so, adding that there is no idea yet what was the cause of the fire.
“We are getting a handle on this,” he said. “My estimation is our crews will be on scene for most of the day. We will slowly start pulling our crews back an have one crew remain on scene until the fire is fully extinguished and also working with our fire investigators.”
In an update to the Optimist around 10:10 a.m., McKintuck said firefighters had a good handle on the fire and that some of the crews would be released from the scene.
"Due to Delta's fire crews' oustanding work, the fire did noy affect any other exposed building close to the location," said the City of Delta in an early afternoon news release.
The Optimist will continue to follow this story and provide updates on the web and in Thursday's print edition.
