A fire Saturday at a house under construction in Coquitlam has forced the residents on either side out of their homes and caused damage to several other houses in the area.
The fire at 930 Porter St. was fully involved when firefighters showed up shortly after receiving the call at about 6:45 p.m., said Coquitlam Fire Chief Wade Pierlot. The homes and a detached garage on either side of the unfinished house also caught fire, and several cars suffered heat damage.
Pierlot said the two families, one with young children and the other a 90-year-old man who'd lived in the home for 40 years, will be out of their homes for some time.
The cause of the blaze is being investigated and is being treated as suspicious.
"It's under construction and it didn't have a lot of the regular services hooked up. The building trades weren't working in it that day and it's subject to a lot of passers-by," Pierlot said, adding the force of the blaze demonstrates the fire risk of buildings under construction because of the intense heat they throw off.
A woman living next to one of the damaged homes said her family was having dinner with guests when they heard a loud bang, followed closely by a neighbour banging on their door to tell them the house next door was on fire.
"Stepping on to the driveway, you could just feel this extreme wall of heat," said Kate, who asked that her last name not be used.
She and her husband quickly moved their vehicles down the street, grabbed their pets and got out of the home.
The fire scorched bushes in their front yard and, like several surrounding neighbours, their roof was damaged by cinders blown from the towering flames.
Developer Louie Erlic said he has been building for about 20 years and this was one of the biggest homes he has worked on.
"It's a beautiful home — the design, the architecture, there was a lot of detail," he said at the scene Monday.
What should have been a 6,800-sq. ft. house — somebody's "dream home," Erlic said — was now nothing more than a charred pile of rubble.
The windows were due to be installed this week, after which the home would have been locked up, Erlic said, adding the plumbing and heating were done but the electrical work had yet to be finished.
The house was on the market but Erlic said he and his wife planned to move into it if it didn't sell.
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