It was a busy long weekend for Coquitlam Fire and Rescue, whose crews battled three significant blazes in three days.
The first incident occurred Friday afternoon at Firbrook Place between Lougheed Highway and Westwood Street, where roofers using a torch are believed to have started a fire that spread to a nearby home.
“We managed to get that put out but there was still quite a bit of damage,” said Coquitlam Fire Chief Wade Pierlot. “It also damaged the residence next door.”
No injuries were reported but neither family was able to return to their homes by Tuesday afternoon, according to Pierlot.
On Saturday night, a second fire occurred at a home on Delestre Avenue, which investigators believed started in the living room. Pierlot said that the blaze’s cause was likely electrical and broke out next to a lamp.
Two occupants were able to get out of the home without sustaining any serious injuries but the structure is likely a write-off, he said. The property had been recently sold, Pierlot said, and it was unlikely that anyone would repair the damaged home, which was built in the 1930s.
“It will probably be a tear-down,” he said.
The third fire Coquitlam crews battled on the weekend started in the kitchen at a retirement home on Dufferin Street. Flames blackened the walls but most of the fire had been put out by the building’s sprinklers and fire suppression equipment by the time crews arrived.
“It was a pretty busy weekend,” he said. “We want to caution the public to be careful out there.”
@gmckennaTC
