WATCH: A fire broke out at an apartment building near downtown Maple Ridge, engulfing a number of suites in the top floor. The flames spread so quickly that some residents were trapped and had to be rescued. Jennifer Palma has the story.
Fire crews in Maple Ridge spent much of Saturday fighting a large apartment fire that gutted several suites.
Firefighters from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows were called out to Sunrise Apartments at 22292 122 Ave. early Saturday morning. Neighbours say they heard loud explosions. According to Maple Ridge Fire & Rescue Chief Dane Spence, the fire was immediately upgraded to a two-alarm fire.
“We had people on the third-floor balconies,” said Spence. “There was already so much smoke they couldn’t get out. They were on the corners of the building on the balconies. We had at least one person with a disability that needed help down a ladder.”
“Later on in the operations we heard a very faint call for help. The faintest voice said, ‘help.’ And it turned out that there was a lady on the third-floor balcony…with an awful lot of fire around her. Our firefighters did a phenomenal getting her off the third floor.
“In my 30 years of doing this, this was closest call that we’ve ever had.”
Spence says two apartments were “heavily damaged by fire.”
Reports indicate that all residents managed to get out of the building safely.
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