“We’re just glad that someone called it in.”
Richmond Fire-Rescue chief Jim Wishlove praised the members of the public who reported the smoke coming from a home in the early hours of Thursday at a main intersection.
Six fire trucks raced to the scene of the blaze at Cambie and No. 5 roads at around 2:30 a.m. after receiving reports of smoke coming from a home on the south-east corner of the intersection.
It took firefighters several hours to control and then extinguish the blaze and the entire intersection was closed by Richmond RCMP as a result.
The intersection has now reopened, but Wishlove wanted to thank people for their vigilance, especially in the wee small hours of the day.
“Even though we’ve had a bit of rain the last day or two, it’s still so very tinder dry out there and we very much appreciate the public calling in,” said Wishlove.
“It’s not easy at that time of the morning to be aware of what’s going on. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, we would much rather people call if they smell smoke, as it’s so dry out there right now.”
There were early reports that the burned-down home was abandoned, but Wishlove said that is still being investigated.
“There certainly wasn’t anyone in it at the time of the fire and there are no reports of any injuries,” he added, noting that a fire investigator is at the scene to try to determine the cause.
The building, he said, is now uninhabitable.
