A home in the 1900-block of Grant Avenue in Port Coquitlam was damaged when a shed at the back of the property caught fire Wednesday afternoon.
Two people were living in the shed and investigators believe that a candle may have caused the blaze, which singed the back of the home and saw flames reach trees above the property.
"After we put the fire out, we determined that there were two people living in the shed," said Port Coquitlam fire chief Nick Delmonico. "One of the individuals burnt his hand."
Accessing the fire was difficult, he noted, as debris and other junk were strewn around the backyard. The home had been the subject of at least one bylaw complaint for unsightly premises, according to the city.
Residents of the property were lucky that crews were able to arrive as quickly as they did, Delmonico said. He noted that firefighters had already been in the area and there response time was about one minute.
"If we had a normal four or five minute response time, it could have been a lot worse," he said. "It can be a bit of a process when a yard is strewn with junk."
@GMcKennaTC
