A structure fire on Canim-Hendrix Road reduced a single-family dwelling to rubble on Saturday.
The building was fully engulfed when the Forest Grove Volunteer Fire Department arrived on the scene, said Fire Chief Michelle Meeker. No one was injured in the blaze.
“When we got there it was a two-storey house fully involved with multiple trailers, RV trailers, storage trailers, five-ton truck. There was a lot of equipment around the house, as well,” she said.
The building had a very heavy fire load with a large amount of equipment and shop materials.
The fire, located on the road between Forest Grove and Canim Lake, was a hard one to knock down and Meeks said local firefighters were grateful for the assistance they received from 100 Mile Fire Rescue and the 108 Mile Fire Department. The BC Ambulance Service, RCMP, ESS, BC Hydro and Fortis were also on the scene. Firefighters were at the home until about 5 a.m. Sunday dousing the fire.
“The house was completely consumed. We were back there today to put more water on it because we didn’t have a machine or anything to pull it apart,” she said Monday. “It had metal roofing so the metal roofing falls down on top of everything else and then, of course, it’s really hard to access into the seat of the fire.”
The fire had been smouldering, which is not nice for neighbours with the smoke, so firefighters had gone back Monday to put some more water down, she said.
“We went back down with our tender. We pulled off a bunch of roofing material just manually and were able to get down into the fire and I believe we have it completely extinguished now.”
The cause of the fire is as yet unknown.
“At this point in time, it’s just an investigation in a general manner,” Meeks said. “The house is so completely burned that it’s going to be undetermined at this time, but it is not suspicious in its nature.”
