Nine people homeless for Christmas after over night blaze that sent one to hospital
Credit to Author: Derrick Penner| Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2019 21:48:30 +0000
One man was sent to hospital with undetermined injuries and nine people in total were displaced by an early morning fire Sunday at a fourplex in the 10800 block of 133 A Street in Surrey.
The Surrey Fire Department received a call for a structure fire around 12:30 a.m. and crews were greeted with heavy smoke and visible flame coming from a unit on the building’s first floor, said Surrey Fire Department Battalion Chief Reo Jerome.
“The crews were informed by people who had exited the structure that there was still a young adult male inside,” Jerome said. “So crews did a quick knock down of the fire and transitioned to search mode and sent in a rescue team.”
The 20-year-old resident wasn’t unconscious and unresponsive when firefighters got to him in his second-floor bedroom, Jerome said, but was breathing on his own by the time he was put in an ambulance to be taken to Surrey Memorial Hospital.
“That’s really good news,” Jerome said.
One downstairs unit was gutted by fire and the corresponding upstairs unit suffered smoke damage, but the neighbouring units in the structure escaped with minor to superficial damage.
The fire response was escalated to a second alarm, Jerome said, and 23 firefighters with about six trucks responded to the blaze, which was knocked back quickly.
Jerome said the nine residents, whom were put up in a hotel for a few nights, were referred to emergency social services for assistance.
A fire investigator has been dispatched to look into the fire but Jerome said as of Sunday morning, there was no word as to the cause.
More to come.