A giant plume of smoke could be seen for miles after fire broke out at a home in Port Coquitlam on Monday.
Firefighters responded to the blaze on Myrtle Way at around 3:30 p.m. and were still trying to suppress the flames when many people in the neighbourhood were returning home from work.
"Obviously, there were a lot of combustibles in the house," said PoCo Fire Chief Nick Delmonico. "It was going pretty good. There was a lot of smoke."
Because the home sat at the end of a cul-de-sac, firefighters had a difficult time accessing the scene. Many of the houses sit close together, Delmonico said, and it was difficult for trucks to get close enough to the blaze.
Eventually, firefighters moved a ladder truck into the area and began attacking the blaze from above, he added.
"It was a very confined space," he said. "We threw a ton of water at it early but it was apparent that wasn't going to put it out."
Crews did a good job of protecting the neighbouring houses, Delmonico added, and were able to get the blaze under control after about two hours.
Nobody was home at the time of the fire and there were no injuries in the incident.
Many residents in the nearby neighbourhood watched as the home burned. Fire investigators were combing through the rubble of the home Tuesday morning, searching for clues to what caused the blaze.
"In a fire like that, it can be difficult to make a determination on cause because there is so much damage," Delmonico said. "The whole place was gone by the time we left there."
