SURREY — Surrey firefighters kept a two-storey house in Cloverdale from burning to the ground Tuesday afternoon after a father and son escaped uninjured.
“Most of the second floor was damaged in the bedroom-bathroom-kitchen area,” Battalion Chief Kevin Beenham told the Now-Leader on Wednesday afternoon. “There was the owner and his father; his mother was out shopping. They were the ones that called 911 and they followed the guidance of the dispatchers and evacuated the house.”
“At this point in time it’s still under investigation,” he said of the 2 p.m. fire, in the 17200-block of 58th Avenue.
“I know they were talking to relatives and they had somewhere to go so they had alternative accommodations,” Beenham said of the residents. “Definitely the house is untenable at this time.”
He said it’s “very lucky” no one was hurt. “The residents got out well, and firefighting crews. It did go up to a second alarm and so we had enough manpower to have a safe ground and that, even with the heavy fire load.”
Battalion Chief Andy George said the firefighters “fought it from outside until they knocked it down and they got in and put rest of the fire out.
During the battle Surrey Mounties closed 172nd Street between 60th Avenue and Highway 10 to traffic, as well as 58th Avenue between 173rd Street and Jersey Drive.
Road closure in effect due to a fire in #CloverdaleBC: 172 Street closed between 60 Ave and Highway 10. 58 Ave closed between 173 Street and Jersey Drive. Avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/s5sWLZoud9
— Surrey RCMP (@SurreyRCMP) January 23, 2018
George said that the large sections of the roads were closed to ensure the safety of the firefighters.
“People aren’t as cautious around fire scenes,” George said. “We just shut the roads to protect ourselves and if we don’t shut down the roads down, the chances of our guys getting hurt are really high.”
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